


The Wolf with the Red Roses

by Nightmare Senshi (Saraphin)



Series: Pradeshverse and Tales of The Boscan Sky [3]
Category: Fairy Tail
Genre: Desna1, F/M, M/M, Multi, Other, Pradeshverse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-12-21
Updated: 2019-03-02
Packaged: 2019-09-24 06:32:03
Rating: Explicit
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 21
Words: 61,987
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17095601
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Saraphin/pseuds/Nightmare%20Senshi
Summary: Being Mated wasn't always a pleasant trip, especially when the mating happens to save a life while issues were not resolved.What are the nightmares that are plauging Hestor..and will Kaleb finally make connections with the questions he'd been asked on Top of Mercurius.





	1. Recurring Dreams of Death

**Author's Note:**

> Here we start, with the next leg of the Star of Bosco Universe.
> 
> As I said at the end of Star of Bosco, there will be two more stories. This story will primarily revolve around Hestor, Kaleb, their relationship, their hardships...and the Cryptic questions asked before their mating.
> 
> Story Title is Taken, yes, from The Lyrics of "Took the Words Right out of my Mouth" by Meatloaf.

Kaleb was well used to Hestor having nightmares. He could dull them, if he was sleeping with his mate, but many times, it seemed they always came when he wasn’t in their shared bed. At least the ones that confused him. He could almost always sense when the man was having a nightmare about his death.

 

This was one of those times, Hestor had retreated after Vince and Sersha had caught him in the main guildhall and after the set of promised bands, had gotten talking about the marriage set. It had devolved into hugging and the Celestial Mage’s discomfort had skyrocketed. Kaleb wouldn’t admit he found it almost adorable that the prickly man just couldn’t deal with being touched a lot. The Mindbender was sure there was a reason and they would eventually discuss it. Kaleb was in the middle of a meeting with Laxus and Marakov over a com when he felt it and pursed his lips, “I have to go.”

 

_ “Kaleb,” _ Laxus scowled over the com,  _ “what’s going on? We just started.” _

 

The mindbender shook his head, “It’s Hestor.” The two understood, there were many a times that Laxus would stop in the middle of one of their conversations and say that Rowan needed him. The com gently landed on his desk as he pulled through the bond he had with Hestor to appear at his side and wished he’d have felt it just a little earlier as the Celestial mage jolted up, screaming in terror.

 

“Hes, hey, it’s alright,” Kaleb gently put his hands on the man’s cheeks, thumbs lightly rubbing, “come back to me.” he always felt the terror and seeing the steel blue eyes unseeing as they were right now always made him ache. He wanted to protect Hestor all he could, with all of his being, but this was one that he couldn’t sense fast enough to protect the other for. His thumbs slowly wiped away tears as the other man sobbed. “It’s okay, I’m here, Hes.” He closed his eyes, gently curling his magic into the man’s mind, wrapping around the dream.

 

The mindbender shuddered as the imagery filled his own mind. It was that same Night Terror, starting with the strange, gaunt and pale man and then flashing teeth and a white rose turning blood red. He kept his voice soft, “hey, listen to me. I’m here, it was a dream. Just a dream.”

 

The male Celestial mage shuddered and gasped before he let out a cry. His hands went out almost instinctively and he grabbed the back of Kaleb’s shirt as his eyes slowly started to focus. It took a few moments before he spoke, voice soft and trembling, “Sorry.”

 

“There’s nothing to be sorry for,” Kaleb spoke softly and smiled gently, “I’m here for you.” his thumbs continued their gentle movements, “Talk to me about it.”

 

Hestor gave a choked laugh, “I know you’ve seen it.”

 

“Talk to me about it, Hes,” Kaleb’s voice, though soft, was firm. It wasn’t about him being able to pluck it out of the man’s head, “I don’t think I’m seeing all of it anyway.”

 

“I feel so weak,” Hestor leaned into Kaleb and murmured softly, “this sucks…” he took in the other man’s presence, “it was the same one as always...I’m walking in darkness...there’s thunder and lightning...a barren landscape, broken, twisted and dead trees…” he shuddered, “i’m cold, so cold...and then...there’s a single white rose bush with that man standing there..” his breathing slowly evened out as he spoke, “A howl of a wolf...teeth..I can’t breathe...blood pouring down my chest...and the roses turn red.”

 

“You’re not weak, you’re dealing with the trauma of being brought back from death. It is not an easy thing, Hes.” Kaleb gathered Hestor against him, gently rocking the man and letting him curl into his body. He kissed the top of his head and murmured, “we’ll figure it out, Hestor…” his mind wandered back to him holding his dying mate on top of Mercurius, remembering the questions that the man’s own spirit had asked him and a chill went down his spine.

 

“You were talking with Fairy Tail, weren’t you?” Hestor’s voice was soft, “stubborn lot, more than you.”

 

Kaleb chuckled softly, “I was, but...don’t worry about it. We weren’t doing much, going over the newest group that’s going to be going through the exchange.”   
  


“I’ll help...but right now…” Hestor nodded and mumbled, “I’m tired.”

 

The mindbender slowly shifted and then moved to scoop the man up, slowly moving towards their bedroom, “let’s rest...you need the rest and I want to be here.”

 

He could already feel Hestor drifting off again and gently murmured, “I’ll always be here for you.”

 

Hestor hummed softly as he was laid on the bed and Kaleb stripped him. The Mindbender knew that Hestor hated sleeping in clothes unless it was for a nap and he doubted they’d leave bed for the rest of the evening. In a way, he was truly glad that it always seemed the evening naps are what brought these dreams on. When his mate was carefully settled, Kaleb stripped himself and moved to slide into the sheets after pulling the cords to let the curtains on the sides of the bed drop, leaving the bottom open for just a tiny bit of ambient light so that he could watch Hestor. 

 

Kaleb smiled as the man curled into him and he wrapped his arms around Hestor, letting the other mold their bodies together. One hand moved up and he gently threaded it through the silver-blond hair, making soft, soothing sounds as the other drifted off. The Dream bothered him, more than he would let the other man know. He hadn’t told Hestor about those questions, not out of concern or spite, he just seemed to forget it unless this recurring dream came up.

 

As he kissed Hestor’s hair, Kaleb half wondered about that. Were those questions related? They had to be, but his forgetting them was abnormal. All he could think was that there was magic involved, ancient Celestial Magic. He didn’t regret any of this, his entire being was devoted to the other man and, the mindbender turned archangel mused, he doubted that it would have changed had the latent magic not been woken.

 

Normally Hestor would rest in his office, but it was later in the evening and the call was the last thing he had to do, so the Celestial Mage had opted to retire to their suite. Kaleb found a bit of regret at not insisting that the other rested in his office. He took a deep breath as he lay there, fingers curling through the light hair and he gently kissed the other man’s temple.

 

~)~)~)~

 

Kaleb carefully rose out of the bed, smiling as he watched Hestor for a moment and then grabbed his robe. Sliding into the white silk, he debated and then grabbed the deep green one of his mate. He knew this was going to be one of those small fights that the other never really knew happened and he chuckled before he semi-wrangled the other into his robe and got both of them settled out on the balcony as the sun rose.

 

His lips were curled with amusement as Hestor’s nose curled and then he tried to bury his face as far as he could into Kaleb’s robe. After the man made a small sound, indicating that he was awake, Kaleb chuckled softly, “Good morning.”

 

Hestor let out another low sound as he sat there, letting out a faint sigh as he let the morning light start to wash over him. His lips quirked into a small smile as he murmured, “morning.”

 

Steel blue eyes slowly opened as he smiled, “hot tub?”

 

Kaleb grinned “now that you’re awake, yes.”

 

Hestor couldn’t help but chuckle as he slowly peeled himself away from the other and moved to carefully take his robe off. After a moment, he slid down into the warm water, letting out a pleased groan. When the lacrama tablet was put into his hands, he let out a small whine and started to thumb through it slowly, debating on his schedule before absently leaning against Kaleb and letting the warmth of the other’s magic curl over him, “I’m getting fairly tired of these dreams.”

 

“I am aware,” Kaleb arched an eyebrow as he went about delegating things for the day. After a few moments of silence, he let out a low hum, “are we still arguing over when we are having our wedding?”

 

Hestor sat there, they’d gone around quite a few times over a date. He let out a small sound, “Perhaps you are correct and the summer Solstice would be the best choice.”

 

Kaleb looked down at the other, they’d argued quite a bit over the When. New Year’s Day had been right out after Hestor reminded him of the last New Year’s they went through...and he wasn’t keen on the Winter Solstice, the other wanting it while he had thought the Summer Solstice would be better. This small bit of give made his heart warm and his hand moved out, tilting the other’s face up.

 

_ “Thank you.” _

 

_ “Give and Take, correct?” _

 

Kaleb smiled into the kiss and let it slowly build, keeping the moment tender before he pulled back. He looked into the eyes that had captured his soul and nodded. They didn’t need to use words, or even his magic right now.

 

“Good morning, Master Kaleb, Hestor.”

 

Hestor chuckled and let his head fall back, “Thane, good morning.” he set the tablet aside, “we’ll need you to clear all meetings for a week before the Summer Solstice and two weeks after.”

 

“Oh?” The Aid looked at him as he set out the coffee, watching both men add honey - Kaleb admittedly adding more - to their coffees before sipping from their cups. 

 

Hestor picked up one of the Stellan Honey pastries and nodded, “yes, we’ve decided that we will be married on the Solstice.”

 

“Shall I start getting a list of surrogates?” Thane watched in mild amusement as both said ‘no’ in almost matching jealous tones.

 

~)~))~)~

 

Hestor curled up on the couch in Kaleb’s office, slowly working through his tablet and his lips quirked as he tapped his finger lightly on it, “I’d like to go riding next week.”

 

Kaleb arched an eyebrow and looked up at his mate, “pick a day?”

 

“Evening Ride,” Hestor looked over his tablet at the other, eyes dancing, “there’s a meteor shower.”

 

The Master of White Sea sat there for a moment, “alright. What do you wish to pack for it?”

 

The celestial mage looked down at his tablet, “tea, finger foods, blankets.” The man paused, “Honey.”

 

Kaleb grinned slightly, “wash off in the Grass Sea afterwards?”

 

Hestor rolled his eyes, but his smile was amused, “yes, wash off afterwards, you always manage to get it in my hair.”

 

“You do writhe a lot…”

 

Hestor pinned Kaleb with a flat look, “it shouldn’t be anywhere near my head.”

 

The Mindbender purred, eyes darkening, “I enjoy licking it off your neck as you moan.” A pillow sailed across the room and Kaleb chuckled as he caught it, “I would say ‘sorry’...”

 

Hestor chuckled as he stood, moving to retrieve the pillow, “we both know the only time you’re sorry is when you drop the container and the honey goes everywhere.” he leaned over, kissing the other man. 

 

Kaleb grinned into the kiss and leaned back, “true.” He tilted his head to the side a bit, “Vince wanted to see you.”

 

Hestor cringed as he sat on the edge of Kaleb’s desk, “what reward do I get if I don’t retreat to our Suite and lock the door to my room?”

 

Kaleb let out a low hum, debating, “I’ll wear that Royal Violet shirt you like tomorrow.” 

 

Hestor looked at the other for a long moment, reaching out a bit and absently letting his fingers curl along one of the earrings that he’d given Kaleb. It made him shiver that the man had never taken them out since they’d been there. “With the black pants?”

 

Kaleb gave a small nod, “yes.”

 

The Celestial mage looked at him, “Promise?”

 

Kaleb snorted in amusement, “You don’t trust me?”

 

“This has nothing to do with trust,” Hestor leaned in, not quite kissing the other, “I just prefer to hear you say it.” his eyes danced as he looked into Kaleb’s, one brow quirking just a bit.

 

The mindbender let out a low purr and his hand shot up, wrapping around the back of the other’s neck and crushing their lips together.  _ “Promise.” _ Both of them let out a low moan as the magic tingled through them. Kaleb had to wonder if that little thrill was half the reason Hestor always made him Promise things. 

 

It wasn’t about not trusting one another, they were truly working on that, and there would always be a few hiccups, neither of them was prone to backing down. However, they would build, work and grow.

  
  


~)~)~)~)~)~

 

Hestor was staring the Jewelry- and gem-maker mages down as they stood with a cart between them. Oh, his and Kaleb’s wedding set was there, but so was a lot more than what they had discussed, “what are you two plotting.”

 

“Well, we’ve got a variety of sample pieces and we want to see what looks best against your skin,” Sercha grinned at the Celestial mage.

 

Hestor wanted to run. He wanted to stand up and walk out and it was only the promise of Kaleb wearing an outfit that he’d bought him that was keeping him there. He let out a slow breath through his nose as he looked between the two and then to the jewelry itself, “...how much pain will my staying here save in the long run?”

 

Vince chuckled as he crossed his arms on his chest, “you’ve had one of Sercha’s hugs...imagine a flying one.”

 

Hestor let out a burdened sigh as he sat there and then his head dipped backwards, “...alright...let the experimentation begin.”

 

“Off with your shirt.”

 

Hestor scowled at the woman, “you don’t need to see me bare chested.”

 

“Well, someone requested a new Navel piercing…”

 

Hestor shot his ire through his bond with Kaleb, knowing exactly who the culprit was. The man had found the closed up piercing marks during one of his ‘honey explorations’ and he’d had to explain that he’d done it when he was younger and simply had lost the jewelry at some point when he’d taken it out for cleaning.

 

“...and some nipple piercings.”

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

 

Kaleb’s head ducked visibly as he sat in the middle of a meeting as he felt Hestor’s ire flare across their bond like tempered fire. He thought for a moment what he could have possibly done and then inwardly grinned. There was only one thing, the special jewelry he’d spoken to Vince about.

 

“Kaleb?”

 

Kaleb cleared his throat and nodded, “Everything is fine, Beck.”

 

Beck slowly raised one brow as he looked at the mindbender, “That’s the look of a spouse in trouble.” He’d gotten over Lucy and was still getting over Kaleb, it hurt, but there was not anything you could do to fight a magical mating. “What did you do?”

 

“Mission debriefing.”

 

Beck snorted in humor as he sat there. He wasn’t sure the pair would ever stop doing things to rile one another, but at the end of the day, even after one of their fights, the love the two had was easy to see. He smirked slightly, "you did something to rile him up."  


 

Kaleb shrugged slightly as he went over the mission folder in front of him, "...I enjoy seeing him flushed in as many ways as I can..."

 

 


	2. Round two

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Keeping Hestor too busy to ask questions was helping...until the man realized that some things could be changed.
> 
> (Or...Clothing Wars: the less destrutive Round Two)

Kaleb knew he was in a little bit of trouble when he found his pillow on the couch. He knew it wouldn’t last long, it never did, but it was more of Hestor’s way of saying he was upset with something Kaleb had done lately. The mindbender was glad that it wasn’t his clothing that was paying the price currently.

 

He carefully made his way towards where he felt his irefilled mate and opened the door to Hestor’s sanctuary, “...Hes?”

 

Hestor’s eyes snapped up and looked at Kaleb, “Kaleb.”

 

The man internally flinched at the dark look he got. He wasn’t sure what he’d have to do to make it up, but he’d figure it out. He slowly walked towards his mate, not wanting to make any sudden move that would either get the man, the book in his hands or a Spirit launched at him. “What’s wrong?”

 

Hestor sat there, eyeing Kaleb for a long moment and hissed, “I was not aware that Nipple and Navel piercings were part of guild jewelry.”

 

That confirmed what the other was upset about. He wasn’t sure how to soothe the ire, but he slowly put his hands on the other’s arms, gently rubbing along them, “...those were more for us…”

 

The Celestial mage pinned him with another dark look, “I would have liked to have been asked before you just had it thrown in with all the jewelry they were trying on me.” He was upset, slightly angry and mostly just on edge from being touched so much by anyone that wasn’t close.

 

Kaleb slowly tilted his head and then leaned over. He made sure he had Hestor’s eyes before slowly opening the man’s shirt and leaning him back a bit.

 

“What are you doing they’re sensi-” Hestor’s head arched back, lightly smacking against the bay window wall as he moaned at the sensations. While the shirt had been driving him insane, this...this was not.

 

Kaleb smirked as he slowly pulled back, running his tongue along the small barbell again and then leaning up to gently curl his nose along Hestor’s jaw, “They are…” he gently nibbled at the Celestial mage’s ear before murmuring into it, “I am sorry I didn’t tell you.” he purred, “but If you didn’t check the tray before you agreed…”

 

Hestor let out a hiss as he went to talk, only to feel warm fingers playing with the cool metal. He wanted to lash out, but the pleasure was ebbing away his ire and he brought a hand up, grabbing Kaleb’s hair and yanking his head back. The two locked eyes and he shuddered as he saw the hunger in the lavender orbs, “this was not part of the deal...you’ll have to find a way to pay me back.”

 

“What would you suggest?” Kaleb arched an eyebrow slowly, knowing that, in some strange way, this had become negotiations for recompense and seeing how the other man had arched in pleasure? He was willing to accept the consequences.

 

Hestor gave a low hiss and started swatting the other man’s hand as he wriggled away from him, “I don’t know yet.”

 

Kaleb grinned as he slid up behind Hestor, chuckling as the man continued to smack at his hands and then his fingers found the jewelry and he gave each a little twist. He shifted his body to support his mate as the man arched back again and the mindbender could feel the trembling of the other man’s body, “Oh?” he dipped his head, letting his mouth slowly curl along the other’s neck. 

 

Hestor let out a small whimper as his eyes closed,  _ “damn you, make it hard to stay mad.” _ The mental voice was trembling and Kaleb couldn’t help but grin more against Hestor’s skin.

 

_ “That is...partially the point,” _ Kaleb purred into the other’s mind, leaving a small trail of kisses along the man’s skin.  He’d distract the other from the anger for now and take the brunt of it, if there was any left, after he showed the Celestial Mage exactly why he’d wanted the piercings.

 

It truly didn’t take him long to have Hestor gasping, panting and half boneless in pleasure, stripping the man with ease and pinning him against the wall. Kaleb moaned against the other’s shoulder as his hands worked at the celestial mage, eyes half lidded as he reached out, grabbing a small pot of oil that he was fairly certain was not for the use he was thinking of, but he’d replace it.

 

It was not long before both men were letting out low groans of pleasure and Hestor’s mind went from keeping ahold of his anger to hissing ideas about what he wanted. Kaleb grinned as he pulled back only enough to turn Hestor and lead him towards the bay window. After absently making sure the book was not in the way before he had the other pinned to his favorite seat. 

 

By the time Kaleb had finally eased into the other man, Hestor’s mind had shot so many things at him that he’d filed it away and grinned to himself. It was a long process trying to keep the other busy and out of his own head, but he knew it was worth it. All the little, petty fights kept Hestor from focusing on the nightmares and Night Terrors that plagued him. The man grinned as the celestial mage was near boneless and his mind thinking but only about the two of them and nothing more. “I can’t wait to see you in White and Gold.”

 

Hestor let out a hum and then his mind sharpened a bit. It was a familiar undertone that made him semi-suspicious. It wasn’t so much the words, He and Kaleb often danced around words and it was mostly the tone that set the actual meaning of their words. This was a tone that normally meant the man was attempting to get his way. “Mmm.”

 

~)~)~))~)~

 

Hestor was slightly aggravated about Kaleb making him do fittings of all sorts so long before they were married, but he supposed it was better than him being able to dwell on the dreams.  He was sitting on ‘his couch’ in kaleb’s office, the rich navy couch having been literally drug into the room not a few days earlier. He respected Kaleb and his embracing of different shades of white, but that was not him. This was, however, his spot and as he didn’t have any paperwork that he couldn’t just slide into the other man’s lap to do, he’d gotten the couch.

 

“I’m very proud of you,” Thane said and Kaleb looked up at his assistant, doing all he could to not see where the man’s thoughts and words were going to go, “I truly had thought that you would have done something similar to the last Mistress of White Sea.”

 

Hestor slowly arched an eyebrow as he looked up from the book of fabric samples, “...what do you mean?”

 

Thane let out a hum, “You never were around much during formal occasions, were you?”

 

The Celestial Mage shook his head, “no, barnacle and I were always going between here and the Academe, or on missions.”

 

“Mm, I see.”

 

“Thane,” Hestor arched an eyebrow, “what are you getting at?”

 

“Oh, she had this rather exquisite Sea Foam colored fabric she used for most of her formal attire.”

 

Hestor’s steel blue eyes slowly looked across the room, an accusatory look in them, “Oh? So...it’s not required for me to wear white? Or Ivory? Or eggshell...or snow…or the thousands of other white fabrics?” He held the book up, “because...I’ve got plenty of choices.”

 

Thane almost didn’t want to answer, but Kaleb would never take brakes if it weren’t for the Celestial Mage. He had to admit it was nice to actually see the Mindbender well rested. “Why no.”

 

Hestor’s lips slowly curled up, eyes narrowing, “I see.” 

 

Kaleb sighed, “I didn’t hide it from you. You didn’t ask.”

 

“They also didn’t give me a chance to ask much for questions after this book was put in my hands,” Hestor narrowed his eyes a bit more, “I’ll be back in a little while.”

 

Kaleb watched his mate go and then looked at Thane, “...I would accuse you of doing that on purpose, but you will, most likely, claim that you were just being informative.”

 

Thane shrugged slightly as he set the armful of folders he’d come in with on Kaleb’s desk, “I just wanted to point out that I was proud he was choosing colors that you liked.”

 

Kaleb let out a mumble, “I was hoping to  **get** him in white and gold…” they both knew ‘by not telling him he could change the main color’ while not said, was very much implied.

  
  
  


~))~)~)~)~)

  
  


The mage that was working with him on his dress regalia actually started as the door slammed open. She felt what many had come to call ‘pissed Celestial Mage aura’ and looked towards the door. “...Hestor...what brings you back so soon? Did you find the color you wanted?”

 

Hestor looked at her and then his lips curled into a dark grin, “let’s talk about color.”

 

“...Color?” The woman was only slightly scared as she watched him move towards the books that held all the fabric samples, “...what...sort of colors?” Having Dealt with Lucy often, she knew how to be careful around Celestial Mages when they got testy, which had helped when trying to measure the man.

 

“Blues, Teals, Greens,” Hestor’s voice was firm, “I’ll do gold and silver trim.” He looked over his shoulder at her, “but I’ve spent a week looking at different white fabrics and none of it looks good on me.”

 

The woman nodded and then moved to pull several books off the shelves, “these are the ones you want…”

 

The man took them, putting them on the counter and starting to flip through them, “do you know that there is this amazing Phenomenon in Sin that happens only in early fall in the evening. The water takes on an almost navy color to it...and then you start to see...lighter spots form on the surface.” He didn’t really let her continue, “They call it the Sea of Stars.” He looked over his shoulder, “we’re going to find a way to recreate that look.”

 

The woman blinked and nodded before her eyes danced a bit, “oh?”

 

Hestor’s lips curled into a grin that was almost feral and tapped a swatch of deep teal, “This will be the base.” He pulled a magazine out of his requip space and set it down, showing off the travel brochure. The biggest thing in the little Sinnish town had been that the event would happen soon when they’d gotten there. 

 

The woman moved closer, looking it over and letting out a low whistle, “...it’s beautiful.” she let her fingers curl over the dark water with what she would call cerulean sparkles swirling around it, “I think we can do it.”

 

“Do it,” Hestor spoke firmly. After a moment he paused, “...and I suppose two shirts in...you called the fabric ‘white diamond’, yes?”

 

Her deep eyes danced even more, “Yes, I did…” 

 

“...two in that...and one in Frost…” He hated lighter colors, but he knew Kaleb wanted to see him in shades of white.

 

  
“I do have one in the White Diamond Silk on hand…”

 

Hestor stood there, debating and sighed, “I’ll wear it out.” he tried to not roll his eyes at the happy sound the woman made and just waited.

 

~)~))~)~)~)~

 

Beck was looking at Kaleb as the man stood at the bar, getting a drink on his own. “Seeing as Hestor went storming out about an hour ago…I’m going to guess you’re waiting for him to return?” the beastmaster looked amused, because really, it brought Kaleb down to a more human level seeing him interact with Hestor. 

 

“I do owe him an apology, for not telling him that He could chose his own colors for dress regalia, yes…” Kaleb sipped his coffee, looking at Beck for a moment and arching an eyebrow, “...I think sistering with Fairy Tail may have been a bad thing. This Cana woman and her betting systems seems to have migrated here…”

 

Beck shrugged a bit and grinned, “I’ve got fifty thousand jewel on when he’s going to snap and help him dye every bit of your bedding black.”

 

Kaleb went to talk but his eyes were drawn to the doors and he stared, fingers going lax and the coffee in his hand sliding down to the bar counter. He took in his mate and his lips curled into a grin. The white shirt shimmered just slightly and his eyes danced, the light color making the man’s eyes stand out just a bit more, but Kaleb couldn’t pinpoint why a white shirt would do that.

 

Beck looked even more amused at Kaleb’s action and then turned his head, arching an eyebrow, “huh, he actually wore a white shirt...I’ll be damned...I just lost twenty thousand…”

 

Kaleb hissed, “really? You bet against him ever wearing white?”

 

Beck sipped his drink, “have you seen the man? He likes his deep, dark colors. Sets off his lighter complexion.”

 

The guildmaster took a breath and then stood, walking towards Hestor. He smiled tentatively when he got close and then reached out. It was when they’re clothing got close that he could see that the white shirt was just tinted with a bit of blue gray, something that wouldn’t be realized unless it was up against a pure white. “...it looks good.”

 

Hestor huffed, cheeks turning a bit pink and mumbling, “you said you wanted to see me in white.” he tugged at one of the cuffs of the shirt, “this is as close as you get.”

 

Kaleb leaned down a bit, gently kissing the other. There was no fear in him when it came to showing how much he cared and he could feel his prickly mate calming at the kiss,  _ “Thank you.” _

  
  
  
  
  



	3. Memories

Hestor arched an eyebrow at the amused look in Kaleb’s eye as he sipped from a cup of coffee. “What?” He rolled his eyes, not caring about how snarky his voice was.

 

“You’re leaning a bit forward there,” Kaleb’s lips quirked.

 

Hestor looked at Kaleb for a long moment and hissed, “i’m wearing this shirt for you. I don’t want to get a stain on it.”

 

“I think it looks good on you,” Kaleb said, though his eyes were dancing, “might look better open and down.”

 

Hestor stared at his mate for a long moment, “I am suddenly regretting my life choice on this shirt.”

 

Kaleb grinned as he sipped his own coffee, “if you regretted it...you would have already called to cancel the other white shirts.”

 

Beck sighed as he leaned back to look at Hestor from the other side of Kaleb, “if you regretted it, you’ll reimburse me the twenty thousand I lost on a bet because of that shirt.”

 

Hestor looked at the beastmaster and slowly arched an eyebrow. He knew about Beck’s feelings and Beck knew he knew. “That’s your own loss. If i had known before…”

 

Kaleb snorted, “if you knew about the bets you would deliberately attempt to throw it all into chaos.”

 

Beck shook his head in amusement, “right...but you’re going to spill that coffee just because you’re being cautious, you know. Kaleb did it all the time.”

 

The Celestial Mage arched an eyebrow, “did he now…?”

 

Beck’s lips split into a grin, “Oh, The stories I could tell you.”

 

Hestor debated, it wasn’t that he disliked Beck, their mutual friendship with Lucy created a bridge there, he was just emotionally wary because of the feelings the other man had towards Kaleb. He looked at his coffee for a moment and swirled it gently before letting out a faint sound, “We could have brunch tomorrow and discuss it.”

 

Kaleb pursed his lips, “I suddenly feel ganged up on…”

 

“Good,” Hestor said firmly, lips quirked in a faint smile, “You need it sometimes.”

  


~~)~))~)~)~)~

 

Hestor looked at his com for a moment and arched an eyebrow, “you sent him **where**?”

 

Lucy looked nervous on the other end and tapped her fingers together, _“Caelum...I got cravings for these fruit baklava they make…in one village...on the southern shore...”_

 

Hestor shook his head and snorted, “you know...I don’t think anyone but those two would put up with that sort of shit.”

 

_“Probably not…”_

 

“...did you just drink out of a pickle jar?”

 

_“Breaking up...gotta go.”_

 

Hestor snorted as he sat back in his seat, shaking his head. He’d taken to checking up on the pregnant woman every other day when Either Vander or Zen wasn’t out on a mission, and Daily when they both were.

 

“...I don’t get why she does that,” Kaleb let out a hum as he finished his weight lifting, watching as Hestor was still working his legs. The man licked his lips and his eyes danced as he took in the other’s form.

 

Hestor shrugged, “I don’t either...but your sister does it as well.”

 

“Emi adds hot sauce to hers,” Kaleb chuckled softly, “nothing in their fridge is safe.”

 

Hestor let out a low hum, “How is Emzadi doing?”

 

“In her own words? ‘Bloated, heavy, achy’.” Kaleb stretched his arms over his head, “are you almost done?”

 

Hestor leaned back a bit and looked at Kaleb, “almost.” he let out a hum, “how is Arman doing?”

 

Kaleb chuckled softly, when they were around his father, his mate would call him ‘dad’, but anywhere else, it was back to a first name basis. He half wondered, but then again, Hestor called his parents by their first names, not mother, father or any variation. “Excited, only a few more months until he has more grandchildren to spoil.”

 

Hestor nodded as he sat there, “Good, we’ll just throw Barnacle and Emzadi at him if he starts asking us about surrogates. Maybe Risley as well.”

 

Kaleb arched an eyebrow and chuckled, “Vindictive, aren’t you?”

 

The Celestial mage carefully brought his coffee to his lips, “Barnacle threw me to Vince and Sersha for a discount on jewelry; both of whom look at me with hopeful eyes every time I come back from a mission.” he arched an eyebrow, “of course I’m going to pay her back for every one of those looks.”

 

The Mindbender chuckled softly and shook his head, “I see.” he let out a hum, “I should see if i can have them look into these.” He tapped one of the pearl earrings he wore.”

 

Hestor let out a hum, “Depends on the color you want.”

 

“What?”

 

The Celestial mage didn’t look up from his tablet, “I grew up in the area the clams are harvested. I know the rough pricing on them.”

 

“Lighter ones cost the most, you’re looking at over one hundred thousand for ones the size of those earrings,” Hestor let out a hum as he flipped through a file, then looked over at the choked sound that Kaleb made. Steel blue eyes blinked slowly, “what?”

 

“It’s a pearl...other pearls do not cost that much…” Kaleb was no stranger to jewelry and prices, but he’d never bothered to look into them too far.

 

Hestor arched an eyebrow, “the clams are from one specific area. To keep the population from thinning out too much, each diver can only harvest so many a year.” He tilted his head, “about twenty percent of them actually have pearls in them.”

 

Kaleb sat back in his chair, staring at the other man. His brow furrowed slightly, “...do all children get them in your village?”

 

The Celestial mage let out a low hum, “no. Kiran found those the year I was born.” He shrugged, “and that was also the year he broke his ribs and couldn’t dive any more.”

 

Kaleb looked at the other, “...I will never get used to you calling your parents by their first names.”

 

Hestor looked amused, “Fine, my **father** found them.” he rolled his eyes, “it was just how my family was after I turned ten...It was probably Mi- **mother’s** doing, to be honest.” He paused with his coffee at his mouth, "proobably trying to protect me...or themselves. Either way."

 

"You never called them Mom or Dad after you were ten?" Kaleb frowned as he sat there, "didn't that put strain on your relationship?"

 

Hestor let out a low hum, "not really. I'd found three keys of Ammit at that point. they said it was a sign of showing that they thought me an equal because of my magic."

 

~)~)~)~)~)

 

Hestor smiled faintly, “Really Ar-” at the scowl he got from the Elder Pradesh, he took a breath, “...Dad, I’m fine, just sleeping issues.”

 

“Alright,” Arman watched the male Celestial Mage, at least getting the man to use ‘dad’ instead of his first name was a good start. “So, any good news?” He looked around the table, waiting as he started to eat.

 

“We’re out of pickles,” Vander grinned, then snorted in laughter as Lucy smacked him, “what? We love you to death, Stardust...but seriously, you drink the juice when your done.”

 

Lucy rolled her eyes as she went back to eating, “we’re almost fully moved into our house.”

 

Emzadi sighed, “another two months?”

 

“Ah, well, soon,” Arman smiled at Emzadi and then to the little boy that was at the table, “Excited for your little siblings?”

 

Raven grinned and nodded, “babies!”

 

Kaleb smiled and chuckled, “he’s almost excited as you are, Dad.” he leaned back a bit, “two new grandchildren in two months, then another...what? Six for Lucy’s...you’ll have plenty of grandchildren to spoil.”

 

“About sur-”

 

Risley saw the two men shift and blurted out, “I’m pregnant.” she could see that Kaleb and Hestor were not comfortable enough in their lives to actually think on that subject, other than nieces and nephews. She gave Kaleb a small smile as she saw the look of relief in his eyes, only to half listen to Arman’s congratulations...and excitement to go shopping. again.

 

Cris chuckled softly and murmured, “Distracting Dad, huh?”

 

When Risley nodded with a soft smile. She looked over at Arman, “Gender neutral. We don’t want to know before.”

 

Emzadi chuckled, “most likely a boy.”

 

Risley shrugged, “it doesn’t matter, really, but...I’m off using magic until after the baby is born…we don't know how Gravity magic will affect him or her.”

 

~)~)~))~

 

Hestor let out a hum as he stood, crossing his arms and looking between two crib sets. He tapped his foot just a bit and then looked over his shoulder at Kaleb when he felt the man behidn him, “Yes?”

 

“What are you doing?” The man looked slightly amused, but they’d both only brought the subject up once.

 

Hestor snorted, “A thank you gift, for dinner this weekend…” he motioned with his hand, “I can’t decide on the green set or the yellow one.”

 

Kaleb pursed his lips, “Green, most likely, is the better choice.” He kissed the other’s cheek, “if you’re done, lunch is almost over.”

 

Hestor let out a discontent rumble and then picked up the package that corresponded with the green set and walked after Kaleb, “I’m aware. Did you find what you needed?”

 

The mindbender shook his head, “not at all.”  He didn’t comment on the little star and moon plushes the Celestial mage also bought. It was these things that made the normally prickly man endearing.

 

~)~)~)~))~

 

Kaleb had a lot of respect for Hestor and his independence, but it was slightly grating on his nerves that the man rarely asked for help. When the other mage took on a task, at most, he’d ask Thane a few questions and then he was back to his work. Now, he wasn’t complaining, but he wanted the other to depend on him a bit more, the magical bond wanted it as well.

 

Training with Magic was interesting, because he could feel where the other was magically...and the man would just **stop** using as much as he could, reverting to using his swords. Now, Kaleb understood it, the man had trained for years beside Lucy, but she didn’t even flinch back from the bonds she had with Zen and Vander. He sighed as watched the training field below. He let out a hum as he watched Hestor spar with Erza and was trying to not laugh.

 

The woman was, frankly, a powerhouse of raw magic. The things she could do with requip and her martial prowess was nothing to sneeze at. He let the pride he felt for his mate curl through him for lasting so long, but he could tell the man was starting to get annoyed. When he saw multiple swords appear, he carefully pushed magic into the wings, getting ready out of reflex.

 

Seeing Hestor’s eyes narrow made him wonder before the large snake, ophiuchus appeared around him in a swirl of golden magic. The spirit looked at the swords that bounced off it’s hide and then to the woman that was frozen. With a strange hisslike roar, the snake lashed out with its tail, putting the woman on the defensive and Kaleb’s lips quirked as he saw the body of the large spirit uncurl and Hestor shoot out between the coils like a shot with his sword. The man didn’t make a sound and by the time that Erza realised he was there, his shoulder was in her stomach, pressing her diaphragm. As they landed, his body twisted and his sword was at her neck, the man was panting, even as the spirit coiled around them.

 

“...what…?” Erza blinked slowly as she lay there, “you…” she looked between the man and the spirit.

 

Hestor slowly arched an eyebrow, “I am a Celestial Spirit mage, just because I don’t use them all the time…” his voice was almost deadly as he continued to pin her down.

 

“I...don’t recall you having used this spirit at the GMG,” She looked up at him, still wide eyed.

 

The silver haired man took a sharp breath and then put the sword in requip, before the snake was gone, “...I didn’t have her then.” he turned, “I’m going to rest now.”

 

The redhead watched him start walking away, frowning as she got up, “...is he...alright?”

 

Beck moved over to help Erza up, “...that’s...not something many of us bring up.”

 

The redhead frowned as she looked at the beastmaster, “...why?”

 

The man crossed his arms over his chest, watching as gold glinted above them and he saw Kaleb leap from the balcony to intercept Hestor as the man started walking around the building instead of going into the guildhall, “...he died….Van brought him back...but...he was dead for a few minutes.”

 

The woman’s eyes went a bit wide, “oh...I…”

 

“We don’t talk about it,” Beck turned, “you did good. Cris?”

 

Cristoff looked up from where he was writing, “I’ll have the training program worked out in an hour!”

 

“Alright,” Beck grinned and then patted the Requip-mage on the back, “got an hour, time to relax.”

 

~)~)~)~

 

Hestor made it around the corner and out of sight before he leaned against the white wall of the guildhall and sunk to sit. He took deep breaths as he tried to control his head and looked up as he felt more than heard Kaleb. The man gave a small smile to the other mage and then shook his head, “I’m….”

 

Kaleb arched an eyebrow and slowly crouched next to Hestor, “Don’t say ‘fine’.”

 

The Celestial mage debated for a moment before he mumbled and then shifted, wrapping his arms around Kaleb as he curled against him, “dealing. I was going to say ‘dealing’.”

 

The mindbender wrapped his arms around Hestor, letting the man just hold him and hold him in return. He let his head rest on top of the silver haired head and closed his eyes. He let his magic thread out again into the other, soothing and wrapping around the memories, internally sighing as he again worked to fix the crack that the Redhead’s words had broken through.

 

After a few moments, he felt Hestor’s emotions stabilize and murmured, “better?”

 

The Celestial mage let out a faint sigh as he nodded and let his head stay where it was, “Better.” He smiled faintly, “good job, by the way. You normally crash face first into the ground.”

 

Kaleb let out a huff of a laugh, “two times, Hes, two times.”

 

The steel eyed half-boscan grinned up at the mindbender, “...was still funny to watch.”

 

Kaleb could still see the shadows playing in the depths of the other man’s eyes and knew that he didn’t want to let the other man out of his sight now as it was almost guaranteed that the man would have a nightmare. “Dinner?”

 

Hestor let out a low hum, “alright, what do you have planned?”

 

“We go to the market and see if we can pick up things for that Stellan dish you like to make,” Kaleb smiled warmly.  
  
“Mm, mutton buuz?” He tilted his head, “get some buffalo milk and I’ll make ginger milk pudding…” he kissed the other’s cheek gently, “and yes, I’ll use honey instead of sugar in it. And I’ll use the excess to make a cream sauce.”

 

“Sounds good,” Kaleb smiled warmly. Authentic Stellan food was new to him, even after the months of living with the other man. Hestor rarely cooked it...and when it had been suggested to go to a Stellan restaurant that he thought had decent food...Hestor had lasted all of three bites into the meal before he was calling for the cook. Finding out the poor man hadn’t even been Stellan, but from Seven had created a scene and the chef scoffed that Hestor couldn’t do better.

 

Hestor had well proven him wrong, rolling his sleeves up and stalking to the kitchen. He’d wandered to watch, curious as the man started barking out orders for items and how he wanted them prepped.

 

While it had been amusing to watch his mate make the Chef eat their pride, it had been more than delightful to try the food that Hestor had cooked. The fact that his face had gone bright red and he’d apologized for ruining their date afterwards, Kaleb had chuckled and simply told him that he needed to cook the food at home. The fact that Kaleb found the other man sexy while he was wearing a half apron and had a ladle in one hand with his arms crossed was simply a perk as far as he was concerned.

 

In fact, he was looking forward to that sight tonight...well part of it. He was hoping he’d at least get his mate out of half his clothes while he cooked.

 

Hestor arched an eyebrow and mumbled, “I heard that. Hopefully you’re only broadcasting to me.”

  
  
  



	4. Icy Depths

Kaleb sighed as he looked at Hestor, “are you going to be alright?”

 

The Celestial Mage looked up from his packing with a slightly amused smile on his lips, “I’ll be fine.” he put the last thing in the case and then put the case into requip space before walking to Kaleb and letting his arms rest on the other’s shoulder, “It’s a simple Mission, shouldn’t take more than a few days. We don’t know what the key offered is.” He arched an eyebrow, “depending on what it is, Barnacle will have new friend.”

 

Kaleb chuckled softly and then leaned down, kissing the other man,  _ “I know...and I have to wonder about the nicknames you all give Lucy.” _

 

_ “Mmm?” _ Hestor grinned and then relaxed into the other, eyes closed. He was feeling apprehensive about the mission, but it was mostly because the mind mage going with him wasn’t Kaleb. It was more a precaution that he’d be able to sleep. 

 

Kaleb looked at Hestor with an arched eyebrow, “most people either call her by her name...or various creatures of the world that are either symbiotic or just latch on and don’t let go.”

 

Hestor looked at his mate for a long moment “...if it fits?” he gave the other a small grin as he stepped back, “but really, don’t worry.” He stretched, “I’ve got a decent team being sent with me...and it shouldn’t be more than a five days.” he took a breath, “also, Zen’s on that mission up north that had some sort of demonic signature, Vander’s doing...well. Whatever Grandace is having him do.”   
  
He leveled a look at the other man tugging on Kaleb’s hair as the man went to talk, “you’ll know how I am through our bond...and you’ll just have to suffer wearing sleep pants and cuddling with Barnacle.”

 

Kaleb snorted softly, “fine.” He kissed the top of Hestor’s head, “just be safe.”

 

“I always am,  _ Hero _ ,” Hestor’s lips quirked at the annoyed look on the other’s face as he stepped back, “so don’t worry…” he’d been talking with lucy and knew that if anything very wrong happened, Kaleb would be yanked to him, even if he didn’t want to let that happen. It was just the magic that they were getting used to still. 

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

  
  


It wasn’t that Hestor had full trust in Beck, but he knew that his feelings towards Kaleb would at least make sure he wasn’t harmed. Picking through a Gods damned mine that was cold, slimy and it felt like someone or something was watching them? That hadn’t helped in the least bit.

 

He rubbed the bridge of his nose as they walked, ignoring the concerned looks he was getting as they traveled further down into the tunnels. He almost didn’t stop from walking off a drop off and it was Beck grabbing him that made him do so, he’d turned to give the man a few cross words, then followed his gaze. 

 

“Sorry,” Hestor frowned, “I just have this...ache and pull at the same time.”

 

Beck shook his head “it’s fine…” 

 

Hestor stared for a moment and pursed his lips, realizing the temperature had dropped just from coming out into the cavern as his eyes watched the puffs of now visible air from all of them. His brow furrowed a bit more as he looked as far as he could along the massive cave, “...this place is...odd.”

 

“This is as far as the map we were given goes,” Beck said, looking around, “This is where the workers suddenly found themselves with frostbite.”

 

“Too bad we didn’t have a fire mage available...that would have been helpful,” Hestor murmured as he stood there, feeling the hair on the back of his neck slowly raising.

 

Beck chuckled faintly, “you are quite negative.”

 

Hestor’s eyes snapped to the beastmaster and he rolled his eyes before carefully starting down the ledge path, “Realistic.”

 

“Pessimistic,” Beck shot back as they walked, pursing his lips, “...there’s a few bats.”

 

Hestor let out a low sound of affirmation as they walked. He knew that the beastmaster would try to connect with them, but what worried him most was the chill in the air that got colder as they traveled further.

 

“These bats are...unique.”

 

The Celestial mage arched an eyebrow, “Define ‘unique’.”

 

Beck snorted, “like no bat I’ve come across before?” he looked out into the darkness, “They’re responding and helping...but...they don’t come too close.”

 

Hestor took a moment and then brought his lined cloak out of requip, curling it around him, “Let’s just get going...I don’t want to take forever.”

  
  
  


~)~)~)~)~)~

  
  


Hestor shivered as they walked, he’d gauged they had been walking at least four hours and given that his com had frozen up. He was glad they were moving. Having come to the bottom of the sloping walkway and revealed ice that looked like it was slammed into the ground that was inky and black.

 

The mages slowly looked around and Hestor stared “that’s an ice blue bat.”

 

“It’s...an ice blue see through bat,” Beck slowly blinked, but given how it had reacted to his magic, it made sense how, seeing it.

 

“...that’s got two feet over you,” Hestor brought his hands to his mouth, slowly blowing on them, “it won’t attack us...right?”

 

Beck shook his head, “no, it’s curious and willing to help us…”

 

Hestor hissed, “Then have it show us to the reason this place is colder than an Iceburg summer.”

 

Beck snorted in humor and slowly walked towards the bat, holding a hand up and waiting. “They have summer?”

 

Hestor wanted to growl, but simply brought his hands back up and ducked a bit into his cloak, mumbling, “Beck.”

 

The beastmaster chuckled softly and then watched as the large creature brought it’s head down. He waited until it slowly leaned down, then let out a breath he didn’t know he was holding, “...she’ll lead us…” his brow furrowed, “To the heart of Jotunheim.” 

 

Hestor pursed his lips, “...that...makes no sense.” he shook his head, “but let’s go...I think I’m going to get frostbite on my balls if we stand around any longer.”

 

The bat let out a high pitched sound, that seemed to resonate in the ice pillars around them and they slowly lit up, revealing that the inky black beneath their feet was almost a mossy, frozen loam. When the creature took to the air, it stayed where the three could see it and they hurried through the air that was getting colder and colder.

  
  


~)~)~)~)~

 

Kaleb paused in what he was saying, leaving Thane to look confused. The mindbender stopped his work and then took a breath, slowly threading his magic out...along the bond he had with hestor and all he felt was an icy cold...wall. Kaleb assumed he’d know if Hestor was dead, but it was just as if the man was blocked by ice. He grabbed his tablet up and then started flipping through it, going over the jobs there, shifting them into the system until he found what he wanted.

 

“Master Kaleb?” Thane arched an eyebrow at the sudden actions, wondering what was going on.

 

The Master of White Sea let out a grunt as he looked at the job and who Hestor had taken with him. Then he felt like things went out from under him. The Fire Mage that had been teamed up with the group had gotten strangely ill. Cris was looking into it, but his notes were that it was a magical cold.  He debated before he attempted to reach out with his primary magic to Hestor,  _ “hes?” _

 

The response he got was snippy, which he expected from the celestial mage, but also had that same strange feeling of ice cold  _ “yes?” _

 

_ “Are you alright?” _

 

_ “Freezing our balls off, but fine.” _

 

Kaleb let out a snort and shook his head as he sat down, leaning back after picking up his coffee,  _ “what’s going on?” _

 

_ “We stepped through the broken wall where the miners got frozen at...and we’re following a path, no danger, other than the chill.” _

 

Kaleb debated and then sipped his coffee slowly,  _ “alright, I felt it through our bond. I just wanted to check on you.” _

 

The man smiled a bit at the faint warmth that came from the other man,  _ “we’re fine. Thank you for checking up on us. We’ll be in touch.” _

  
  


~)~)~)~)~

 

The three paused when they came to a river with a golden roofed bridge on it. Hestor pursing his lips, “...this is...strange.”

 

“I would say…” Came a voice from the bridge, “that you are the strange one.” 

 

The group watched as a woman with deep blue hair walked across the frost covered bridge. She was wearing little, despite the chill in the air; the cloth that wrapped around her was almost, Hestor mused, a veil dress. Almost. Her skin was a pale blue and her eyes looked almost frosted over.

 

“And you are?” Hestor spoke, keeping his nose and mouth covered. The last thing they needed to do was actually breath in the air that was already chilling the rest of their bodies.

 

“Modgud.” She tilted her head, watching them “what brings the living to Gjallarbrú?”

 

Hestor pursed his lips, “We’re mages, there was a...breach of some sort...and...this area is freezing people.”

 

“Mm, where are you from?” She brought her hands up, inspecting gold painted nails.

 

Beck’s eyes narrowed as he watched the woman, “What is she saying, Hestor?”

 

The Celestial mage pursed his lips, “She’s asking where we are from….”

 

“Bosco.” The beastmaster felt uneasy about what was going on.

 

“What is a bosco?”

 

Hestor debated as he stood there, “Earth Land. We’re from Earth land.”

 

The woman looked more curious at his words before the frosted eyes seemed to light up, “ah, i see.”

 

“Is there a way to...close the breach?” Hestor watched the woman, praying she wouldn’t say that a battle was the only way.

 

The woman let out a low hum, “Do you have keys to the bifrost?”

 

Hestor let out a low sound, “what?”

 

“I can sense you have keys of passage. Do you have Keys to the Bifrost.”

 

Hestor shook his head, “...no?”

 

“Interesting,” Her lips curled into a small smirk and she looked at the three before snapping her fingers.

 

Hestor turned as he heard the sounds of ice forming and watched as Beck and the mind mage were encased, “what did you do?!”

 

“Those of the Living have no place here,” She slowly walked towards the mage, making him look at her when she touched his face with a finger that left frostbite in its wake, “you have...special privilege. You’ve been touched by Hel’s child.” her eyes danced, “Cross the bridge, if you can. There are ten keys of passage, one is mine. If you can find mine and...close the gate….this will disappear and your companions will live.”

 

Hestor shivered at the bone deep cold and watched the woman just swirl away in snow. He looked at the two encased mages and let out a string of curses before he was running. Everything ached and he knew his body was not going to be happy with him when this was over, but he didn’t take any time to think on that. The two were depending on him and he let out a yell as he tripped at the apex of the bridge and went tumbling down the other side.

 

It took the mage a moment to actually regain his senses and yank the fabric that had come loose back over his mouth and nose. He could feel the burn in his lungs and knew it was bad, but he slowly looked around and then pursed his lips as he saw ten keys. They all seemed to resonate the same magic and his eyes narrowed. He stood there, trying to not let the cold get to him too much, but eventually, he could feel his entire body starting to freeze, even as he paced. The man let out a growl and looked at the keys, eventually stopping and picking one up.he let out a hiss at the sudden heat of the metal and then narrowed his eyes. All but one felt…’hot’ and he grabbed up the one that felt cold.

 

The man paused and let out a hiss, “Close..Ga…” He paused, no, that didn’t feel right and his mind quickly went over the conversation, he took a deep breath, “Key of Bifrost, close the passage to Jotunheim!” 

 

The power was a massive released that blew the mage back and his world just went dark. He reflexively reached out to Kaleb, fear of feeling Charon’s fingers again making him yank on their bond.

 

~)~)~)~)~

 

Thane blinked as Kaleb just disappeared and picked up his tablet, making a call, “Cristoff?”

 

_ “Thane…?” _

 

“I think you may wish to get the infirmary ready for a few more people.”

 

_ “What happened?” _

 

The aid looked at the desk and walked over, looking around for a moment, “Master Kaleb did what your brother Zen does when Lucy panics and her magic compels him to her side.”

 

_ “Right, three beds, got it.” _

  
  
  


~)~))~

 

Kaleb wasn’t sure where he was, because for a single second, it felt as if there was so much cold that he would shatter from it. However, when he blinked again, what he saw was Hestor, Beck and the mind mage all laying on a mine cavern floor that looked like it had been flash frozen and then heated up at a far too fast pace.

 

He crouched next to Hestor and pursed his lips as the frostbite he could see on the other’s cheek and then looked around. His eyes narrowed slightly and he tried to sense any thing, but there was nothing, no danger, just...a lingering slight chill in the air.

 

_ “Thane, we will need Teleport mages, use the location function on Hestor’s Com.”  _  The mindbender didn’t bother to wait for a reply, carefully starting to check Hestor over and gently rubbing at his hands when he pulled one of the gloves. The other curled around what looked like a key, but until he could pry it out of the other’s fingers, or make him wake, it wasn’t anything he thought he was going to figure out.

 

His first priority was getting his mate and teammates for the job back to the infirmary to be checked on.

 

~)~)~))~~

 

“Well?” Kaleb half paced as he watched Cris work, “Talk to me.”

 

The Lunar slayer was actually debating on if he could usher his brother out. He’d been impatient and while Beck and the mind mage were hardly in bad shape, Hestor had a strange amount of frostbite...and a few of patches in strange places.

 

Beck sighed softly as he stretched, “we’ve told you twice, and shown you three times, Kaleb. You know as much as we do by this point.”

 

“I don’t understand how he understood her...and spoke in her language...i’ve never heard it before,” Kaleb frowned. He’d gone into Hestor’s mind and somehow, the man had just  **known** the language as he spoke to the female spirit, or at least he assumed she was a spirit. The cryptic words, everything was just odd to him...especially because when he’d been pulled by the mage...there hadn’t been a cavern like they walked through...the other side of the busted out wall was just...a flat cavern. He felt annoyance from Hestor and looked over, moving to sit on the edge of the bed, “Hes?”

 

The man spoke, his voice raspy and low, “stop worrying. I’m fine.”

 

“Are you? Are you really?” Kaleb narrowed his eyes.

 

The celestial mage didn’t bother to open his eyes, but let out a low sound, “yes. I am now.”

 

The Master of white sea went to say more, and then snorted as the mage visibly fell into sleep again. “...dammit.”


	5. Recovery, Shooting Stars and Plans

Hestor slowly came into awareness, letting out a gasp and his body arching, for once it wasn’t a nightmare, but falling over the edge of an orgasm. His eyes seemed to roll in their sockets for a moment as he panted and it took him a moment before he let out a low hum as he felt a warm body slide up his own. He was half tempted to lash out, but the smell of apples had him humming out a soft ‘morning’.

 

Kaleb chuckled softly, lightly kissing the other man, “good afternoon.”

 

The Celestial mage made a discontent sound and then his eyes slowly opened. He took a breath as he lay there, noticing the brighter light at the foot of the bed, “mm, it is.” his mind slowly went over everything, letting the past few days curl over his mind, “how long did I sleep?”

 

Kaleb’s hand went through the silvery hair and he smiled warmly, “not long, we got you back two days ag-” The mindbender pulled back as his mate sat up and then steadied Hestor as he wavered in place, “Calm down.”

 

Steel Gray eyes looked into lavender for a moment before the former slumped against Kaleb, “shit...the reward?”

 

Kaleb rolled his eyes, though he looked amused, “how about you recover from your ordeal before you-”

 

Hestor reached out, grabbing the man by the shirt and yanking him, not worried as he half choked Kaleb, “reward.”

 

Kaleb almost wanted to laugh because he’d seen Lucy do the same thing. It must have been, he mused, a Celestial Mage thing. He carefully pulled the small box out of requip space and watched as Hestor tore it out of his hands with a very light peck on the cheek and practically ripped it apart. Kaleb could only blink owlishly at the action and then start as the box was tossed over the man’s shoulder as he studied the key in thought. His eyes narrowed a bit as he let out a low sound.

 

“Hestor?” Kaleb looked at his mate warily and then to the strange key that looked to be styled like an odd horn in a black metal that glinted gold and silver.

 

The Celestial mage’s eyes danced as he ran his fingers over it and he brought the key up, resting it against his forehead for a moment before looking at Kaleb, “This goes to Barnacle.”

 

“...what...key is it?”

 

“Shinryu,” The man smiled softly, “one of the Four.”

 

Kaleb’s eyes went wide. He understood that and looked between Hestor and the key, “So...that’s two more that she needs.”

 

“Yes, because I sure as Hell am not even going to **try** to summon one of them,” Hestor looked at the key.

 

Kaleb frowned softly, “Why not? Other than Lucy would be overjoyed…”

 

Hestor slowly arched an eyebrow, “what part of the title that she was given didn’t register? Star Maiden. Though...if you actually take it back step by step through the different Dialects of Celestial that they are, it has a different meaning.”

 

“Enlighten me,” Kaleb watched his mate, tilting his head slightly, the man had never kept information from him, but this truly hadn’t been where they’d ever gotten to in discussions.

 

“Translated back into what we speak?” Hestor shrugged, “Child of The Stars. Not as a Title, but...like we would say...you’re an Archangel. It’s some sort of title, but with a deeper meaning.”

 

“Is there **any** reason that Celestial Mages keep all of this to themselves?” Kaleb gave the other an arch look.   


Hestor moved to carefully get out of the bed, “rules.”

 

“...rules.” Kaleb’s voice flat as his arch look turned almost sour.

 

The silver haired man gave Kaleb a light peck and then carefully moved to grab his pants and slide into them, “Rules.” He paused and looked at the other, “But once in our lives, we can share it with someone that we trust with all that we are, that doesn’t share our magic and...” he gave a faint smile, “that we allow to hold our hearts.”

 

The man turned, leaving quickly, before Kaleb could ask him a question; stunned Kaleb to watch his mate go.  It didn’t take him too long to realize what the other man was saying. Hestor had chosen to let him in on a level that was akin to bearing his soul and his magic without any thought if the other would ever return the trust he wanted to give to him.

 

What if he’d...never stopped feeling like he’d done no wrong all that time ago? What if he’d never repaired the bridges with Hestor? His heart sank when he realized that...Hestor had been completely willing to live his life alone, simply because he wouldn’t be able to fully open up to anyone after telling Kaleb all that he had.

  
  


~)~)~)~)~)~

Hestor stretched as he checked the time, rolling his neck and nodding to Thane before he took a breath and then burst the door to Kaleb’s office open. The Celestial mage didn’t bother to stop his forward momentum, but walked towards the desk and slammed his hands down, startling Kaleb out of his very brief moment of stunned shock. Steel gray eyes met lavender and Hestor leaned over, “it’s two hours until dusk. There is a meteor shower tonight and tomorrow night.”

 

Kaleb opened his mouth and then closed it. He looked at the work he’d planned on doing and then nodded before he put everything on his desk away, “Alright.”

 

Hestor watched the other man as he stood, crossing his arms on his chest and waiting. When Kaleb stood, he smiled warmly and then turned to walk out. “Come on, come on!”

 

Kaleb shook his head with a look of amusement on his features, “honestly…” He froze when Hestor looked back at him. “...I can’t wait?”

 

Hestor narrowed his eyes and then looked at Thane, “Clear everything for tomorrow. We’ll be out all night at the meteor shower.” he turned and started away, “move your butt, flyboy.”

 

Kaleb scowled, speaking in a low tone, “Do not cle-”

 

“Clear everything, Thane!” Hestor called back as he walked. “Hurry up, Kaleb, we have to get well out of the city!”

 

Kaleb took a deep, soothing breath and mumbled, “...he’s so frustrating at times.”  


Thane smiled faintly as he started to clear both of the schedules for the next day, “yet you love him, despite it.”

 

Kaleb smiled and shook his head, moving to walk after the Celestial mage, “I do.” He walked after the other man, _“clear things for the next day as well, Thane...seeing as he won’t let me get out a word.”_

 

 _“Yes, Master Kaleb,”_ Thane let out a hum, starting to move things around and knowing he was going to hear from Cris soon enough about the changes in schedule.

 

~)~)~)~)~)~)~

  
  


Kaleb helped Hestor set up the small camp and shook his head as he saw the food. It had been a good ride out, the Celestial mage against his back after helping load his grass runner up. The other man had given directions and when they’d come to an island that was well away from the city and seemingly had no one on it, he shook his head.

 

When they’d settled in, he smiled at the man leaning against him, “I’m shocked you didn’t invite Lucy.”

 

Hestor let out a low hum and smiled, “she wanted to talk to the Dean about the mark on her collarbone and decided they’d just go there for it.” The man shifted after a moment, pouring two glasses of scotch and then handing one to Kaleb, “just relax if you want...I’ll be up all night.”

 

Kaleb spoke softly as he sat there, “No, I want you to tell me about this and why it is important.”

 

Hestor gave the mindbender a firm look and then realized how little both he and Lucy talked about the meaning behind these. He took a breath and kept his voice soft, “this is when my magic, and barnacle’s magic, will reach out. More than that, barnacle believes that if keys are going to fall to Earth Land it will be then.”

 

Kaleb let out a hum, “So we’re here for the next two nights to see if a key falls?”

 

“If you don’t mind?”  Hestor looked at kaleb for a moment.

 

The blond stared at the silver haired man for a moment and gently kissed him, “I don’t mind at all.”

 

Hestor smiled softly as he let his gaze turn back to the sky, “there are several meteor showers throughout the year and someone is always watching any given one.” He let his eyes half close as he pointed up at the sky, “they’ll all start there. In Perseus.” he sipped his drink and looked at the stars for a moment, “Barnacle also has a theory that if there is a copy of a key and the shower is from the constellation, clues might be given.”

 

Kaleb chuckled softly, “You two do a lot of research.” he kissed the top of hestor’s head as they sat there.

 

The Celestial mage was quiet for a moment and Kaleb could feel the sadness from the other man, “as far as working mages go...there’s...probably about six in Ishgar.” He took a breath, “That’s not counting the four teachers at the Academe, nor the Dean. they’re not actively searching for keys, Kaleb. After what Hisui did...there are a lot of keys that need to be found.”  


“We should have someone look and see if there were any keys in the dungeons,” Kaleb said as he gently wrapped his free arm around Hestor, internally smiling when the man leaned into him.   


The Celestial mage let out a low hum, keeping his eyes on the stars and he sipped his drink before nodding towards where a single shooting star started across the sky, “perhaps. For now...it is time to watch the stars fall.”

 

~)~)~)~)~

 

Kaleb had to softly chuckle when it was nearly close to dawn when the meteor shower truly took off and when the last finally faded, Hestor let out a low sound and dozed against him. The mindbender carefully brought a hand up, gently letting his fingers slide through the silver hair and he kissed Hestor’s temple. The man smiled as he sat there, realizing he could **feel** Hestor’s magic humming in him as if he were on the brink of overflowing.

 

It was, the mindbender decided, one of his favorite things to do. Watching the other man sleep took down every mask that Hestor wore: from the standoffish one that he presented to the world, simply because he had been raised to avoid people thanks to his mother to the utterly apathetic one to hide his emotions from the world itself. The man was complex, more than Kaleb could begin to actually describe but, as Hestor let him in, bit by bit and day by day, he was learning more and more about his mate. The man carefully prodded the area of Hestor’s memories from atop mercurius, letting out a small sigh as he found it all still locked down. Part of him, truly, wanted to erase the memories, but he also didn’t want to be fully invasive and it took all he had to not probe further into the other man’s head.

 

He realized he’d nearly done the same thing to Lucy, not too long ago, but her own words had stopped him and he let out a soft sigh into the silver hair.  He’d come to learn that Pride was one of the biggest things that Celestial Mages had; pride in their magic, in their research, in their knowledge. He’d also seen how much fine control they had over their magic, though, he supposed that partially had to deal with the nature of what they did. It was stupid to pour too much energy into opening the gates that they did, it would exhaust them further. He also assumed it had to do with the rare spells that they could find and use. He half surmised that Hestor and Lucy were **almost** making some of it up as they went along, but he couldn’t prove it.

 

Kaleb did know one thing, he had to give the other man something special. He wasn’t sure what exactly, but he would find something. He placed another light kiss against Hestor’s temple and tried to stifle the rumbling chuckle when the other let out a soft sound and curled against him. The man knew that his mate rarely stayed up all night and he was certain it was only in cases like this, or Lucy had him in research room and both were overly fixated on something.

 

_“Thane, I need you to set aside some time near the Lunar New Year for travel.”_

 

_“Yes, Master Kaleb, do you need me to arrange travel plans?”_

 

 _“Not yet.”_ Kaleb snorted softly. No, he had to do a bit of work and see if he could drag the other with him to where he had plans. He knew just who to talk to and it would probably be christmas when he could get Hestor distracted enough.

 

~)~)~)~)~)~)~)~)

  


Hestor stared at Emzadi for a long moment and then slowly arched an eyebrow as he slowly panned his eyes to Gajeel, “...say that again?”

 

Gajeel groaned and looked at Emzadi, “See, I told ya, he’s not the type to help out with this sort of thing.”  


Hestor slowly brought a hand up, rubbing the bridge of his nose, “I am certain Arman would be a much better choice to watch the boy until you bring his siblings into the world.”

 

“Unca Hes!”

 

Hestor deliberately didn’t look down at the dark haired boy as he felt his pant leg be tugged on. Letting his hand drop to cast another look at Emzadi, “so...I would love to hear the reasoning as to why **us** ….and why you did not speak to Kaleb.”

 

Emzadi let out a snort, “He said to talk to you about it.”

 

Hestor let out a small sound. He understood what the mindbender was doing. He really did, giving him a choice to run like hell, but he could see the exhaustion in both, most likely from the boy and then needing simply time to rest the next two weeks until the two new babies came into the world. He finally looked down as he heard a whine and groaned as he actually made eye contact with the boy. It wasn’t that he didn’t like children, he was...fairly ambivalent about them...unless he was being asked about him having any; then if he wasn’t fast enough, Kaleb was saying ‘no’. The two were content without children of their own for the time being.

 

Raven let out another whine as he tugged on Hestor’s pants again, almost hard enough that were they not Elluris, the Celestial mage was sure they would have ripped.  Hestor slowly looked at the two, “did Kaleb indicate any negativity about the subject?”

 

Emzadi shook her head, “only that you had the final say.”

 

Hestor sighed at yet another whine and shifted enough to pick the boy up, “fine, however, we shall call this a large favor.” He grinned, almost sharklike and held out a hand.

 

Emzadi took a long moment, studying the hand and then groaning as Gajeel took the hand. All three felt the magic swirl and she groaned at her mate, “patience.”

 

“Toddler,” Gajeel’s eyes went towards Raven as the boy tugged at Hestor’s jacket and then seemed to curl right up against him with a coo.

 

Both slayers stared as Hestor moved to the desk, picking up a cookie and letting the boy chew on it. Raven hadn’t been bad, but he’d been hyperactive for weeks, to the point that he’d over exhausted himself and simply couldn’t sleep. The only exception had been when he’d been around Lucy and the boy just curled up and ‘talked’ at her stomach, but didn’t go to sleep.

  


The boy let out a small yawn and Hestor took the cookie, putting it on a plate and arching an eyebrow at the two adults before the boy seemed to drift off. He made a shoo’ing motion with one hand, “off with you.” he fixed them with a dark look that sent shivers down their spines, “quietly.”

 

Hestor didn’t do much other than move to the door after a few moments and walk into Kaleb’s office, arching an eyebrow, “nephew sitting duty? And you put it on me?”

 

Kaleb looked at Hestor for a moment and then moved to get the man a cup of coffee, “yes, because she can try to weasel out of a promise with me.” he smirked and kissed Hestor lightly, “you? Or Lucy? Not so much.”

 

Hestor took the coffee and sipped it, “mm, devious. Your halo’s a bit off.”

 

“Archangel, not angel,” Kaleb leaned against his desk, “...and I’d heard he’d been up for three days straight, didn’t take long at all.”

 

Hestor snorted, “it’s probably my magic. We all know he relaxes around Barnacle pretty well, may be because Emzadi’s magic is mostly going to the twins.”

 

The mindbender nodded, “Makes sense.” He let out a breath as he really took in how the other looked. Oh, he was in no rush to start a family, but, as he watched Hestor with the sleeping boy, he supposed when the time came, it would be perfect.

  
  



	6. Assmeblage

Hestor wasn’t sure what time it was, but he knew he had something small curled against him. He slowly blinked open his eyes and stretched a bit with a yawn. The low rumble made it all click into place and he snorted as he sat up, pushing himself off the day bed in his study and looking at the child that was curled against his chest. It was day two of their watching the boy and while he didn’t mind it, he knew Kaleb was in and out off his head checking what he did with the memories that he’d suffered during his death more often than not. They couldn’t risk the boy actually seeing him have one of those fits, he was simply too young to understand it.

 

It also did not help that Raven was clingy and wouldn’t let him out of his sight. It wasn’t **that** bad, but he assumed the toddler would at least be able to sleep alone. No such luck, really. He stretched as best he could and stood, carrying the boy with him and out of his retreat room. The boy seemed to like it better when Kaleb wasn’t around. Then again, Hestor liked it better when Kaleb wasn’t around.

 

He moved out of the suite and down to the guildhall when he realized that he was hungry, which meant he really should feed the boy. He ignored the looks that he was getting, knowing how ‘cute’ and ‘adorable’ people thought he looked with the child. He didn’t care about that, he was just debating on what he could cash the favor in for. Large was an understatement. He smiled tensely as he got to the bar counter, “I need something for the sleeping dragonling and...something sweet.” He didn’t respond to the arched eyebrow, “and a coffee.”

 

The man waited as patiently as he was known for, casting a detached look around the guildhall before looking back and waiting for the tray. When it came, he picked it up and moved towards a table, letting out a warning sound as the boy in his arms attempted to get at the food. He settled the tray at the table and sat down before letting the boy settle for a snack. He actually used his spoon to lightly smack the boy’s hand before narrowing his eyes, “we use table manners here.”

 

Raven looked torn before he carefully eyed the silverware and picked it up, obviously not happy with having to eat slower, but doing so simply to not get a light smack.

 

Hestor took a moment to make sure the boy wasn’t going to revert back into shoveling the food in and then started to eat his salad. He kept one eye on the boy and the spoon in his hand was more than enough deterrent for the small slayer. The Celestial Mage deliberately didn’t listen to anything around him, as much as he could anyway, the coos from women were hard to ignore as he sat there and continued to eat. When they were finished he rolled his eyes as the boy whined and picked up the tray, “Come along. We’ll get you a cookie.”

 

He let out a disgruntled sound as he heard a few ‘awwwww’s that actually cut above the buzz of the guildhall and slowly panned a flat look towards the sound, rolling his eyes at the two younger mages there. He held one hand to the boy as they walked to clean up and mouthed ‘cookies’ to the bartender before they got there. Within a moment of the tray being put down, a small plate of cookies was put on the counter. Hestor picked the boy up and then the plate before turning and making to retreat from the guildhall proper. He wandered with the boy out to the training grounds and rolled his eyes at the amused look he saw in many faces.

 

He had spent **years** cultivating a reputation of not wanting people close to him and all it had taken was Lucy to ruin it..and Raven, because he fully blamed the boy for people suddenly thinking it was alright to wave to him. The Celestial mage moved towards a ring that was empty and put the boy down, letting him grab a cookie and run around. Absently, he summoned his canis major  and watched as what appeared to be a large encan ridgeback appeared and started to bounce around the boy, who started squealing, laughing and running after the dog.

 

~)~)~)~)~)~)~)~

 

Kaleb could **feel** amusement,appreciation and...strange attraction in the air as he stepped out onto his office balcony and arched an eyebrow to see if he could see what might be causing it.  He leaned against the railing when he saw Raven running around with one of Hestor’s spirits and couldn’t help but be amused. His mate had done a very, very good job at keeping the world at a ten meter radius and it hadn’t taken much to make people actually watch him.

 

However, it had only taken two days of watching Raven for that to change.Hestor’s demeanor towards the boy may have been strict, but the moment the noises were actually distressed, he was comforting the boy. Kaleb knew that Lily would have probably been best, but with her in Fiore, there was no help on that front; but the boy did take to the two Celestial mages and he was happy for it. He would have been even more so joyful...if Lucy hadn’t gone to Fiore on a Pregnant Warpath.

 

“He is very good with Children,” Thane said, having brought up his lunch. Kaleb let out a low hum but didn’t say anything else as he watched his mate’s spirit play with the boy. “Shall we discu-”

 

“No, we’re not discussing surrogates yet,” Kaleb rolled his eyes slightly and he was fairly certain it was at least partially his father’s influence. “We still have much to work through before we can even think to do that.”

 

Thane seemed to wait as Kaleb continued to smile and watch Hestor, arching an eyebrow slowly, “should I look into adoptions?”

 

Kaleb snorted softly, “I’d wager dad put you up to this…” he arched an eyebrow, “but he doesn’t have **that** much sway with you.”

 

Thane shrugged slightly, “nothing wrong with starting a family.”

 

Kaleb snorted as he watched Raven let out a sound and throw sand at Hestor. The Celestial Spirit mage letting out a huff before half stomping towards the boy only to be cut off by the spirit. The mindbender’s lips quirked at the scene, how domestic it was and how many people were warming to the normally prickly man just because of their nephew.

 

~))~)~)~)~)~

  


Kaleb found Hestor half asleep in the hot tub, arms folded on the edge with his head resting in it as Raven splashed and squealed happily. “Need help?”

 

Hestor didn’t open his eye as he mumbled, “You get him for the next few hours...I need a nap.”

 

Kaleb chuckled as he watched Raven, “He seems happy in the water.”  
  
Hestor hummed softly, “yes, keep him from putting his head under.” one steel blue eye opened and looked at the mindbender, “no slacking on manners.” he wagged a finger half heartedly, “he needs to learn early.” he snorted, “ his father is a terrible influence.”   
  
Raven let out a squeal and splashed the Celestial Mage, making the man groan, “Kaleb. You have Raven duty for the next few hours.”

 

Kaleb went to talk only to watch his mate suddenly spring out of the hottub and into their quarters, grabbing his robe and retreating quicker than he thought was possible out of sight. The mindbender looked at the boy for a moment, “What do you have you say for yourself?”

 

Raven stared at Kaleb for a long moment and then leaned to the side a bit, “Unca Hestor!”

 

Kaleb shook his head,voice firm, “no.”

 

Raven blinked at Kaleb, lips drawing into a frown and he let out a sound that was very much a challenge to the man.

 

The mindbender let out a low sound, “no.” The boy narrowed his eyes again as Kaleb slowly leaned down at the boy’s level, hands on the edge of the tub. The man watched as the boy let out a low whine and slumped before he let out a faint breath.

 

“Want Unca,” The boy pouted as he looked at Kaleb.

 

“Your uncle needs some time to himself,” Kaleb said firmly, “you’ll spend tomorrow with me.” he pinned the boy with a firm look when he let out a small whine, “none of that. You may like your time with him, but he needs time to himself. He’s not as social as the rest of the world.” in fact, he could already feel Hestor’s mind drifting into sleep. The fact that the man had gone to their bed and not his daybed said a lot to the mindbender.

 

~)~)~)~)~)~)~

 

After firmly putting Raven into one of the extra bedrooms, Kaleb moved to the master suite and smiled when he saw hestor curled up in the blankets around the blond’s pillow. He carefully lowered the curtains to cut out more of the moonlight and then got ready for bed himself. He’d made sure Raven would sleep deeply before he’d left the boy and gently slid into the bed, gathering Hestor to his chest while liberating his pillow.  When he’d settled the pillow under his head, he smiled as the Celestial mage slowly shifted in his sleep, burying his face against his neck genty.

 

Kaleb brought his hand up, gently playing with Hestor’s hair as he lay there and kissing the other man’s temple gently. He chuckled when he heard the other man speak.

 

“Is the urchin asleep?”

 

He gave Hestor’s temple another kiss and let out a hum, “yes, and why urchin?”

 

Hestor mumbled as he lay there, “they eat everything in sight.”

 

Kaleb chuckled softly and shook his head, “this is the second nickname you’ve given someone that is related to water animals.”

 

Hestor let out a low hum, “I suppose.” the celestial mage didn’t think too much on it as he lay there and nipped at the man’s neck gently.

 

Kaleb let out a low sound and then shifted their bodies, pinning the other to the bed and arching an eyebrow. He chuckled as Hestor opened up his eyes and stared up at the other man with a sleepy, if semi-challenging look on his features. “Is it going to be one of those nights?”

 

Hestor snorted softly as he tugged at the blond hair, “maybe.”

 

‘One of those nights’ normally meant one of many things; from a fight for dominance to the man just needing to be held. Kaleb knew that Hestor was passionate and had managed to catch the mindbender off guard a few times, but, like Lucy was normally, the man was a closet cuddler.

  


~~)~)~)~)~)~)~

 

Christmas Ended and Kaleb frowned as Hestor was just...missing. He could sense the man in the direction of the Citadel, but that was it.  The Prickly mage had been rather overprotective of their new niece and nephew and he wasn’t exactly sure why, he’d caught worries about the Steel council in passing, but every time he went to bring it up the look he’d gotten was one of warning. He knew Hestor was planning something, but it seemed Celestial Magic was curled around the thoughts, the dark and green magic from the ten spirits of the Halls of two Truths making it so he had no access to that part of the man’s mind.

 

Kaleb wasn’t sure if the Spirits were plotting something or if Hestor was and that bothered him. He’d debated the better part of the morning while going through his Guild Duties and then looked at the case of keys that Hestor kept that were extras. The mindbender had taken the time to learn what they were and he took a breath as he eyed each of them critically in thought.

 

Zen had told him that he should be able to summon keys, the spirits may not listen, but he could do it. Kaleb had been standing there for twenty minutes looking at the keys and debating.

 

“Yanno, you’re gonna go a lighter blond if you keep this up.”

 

Kaleb snorted softly and turned, “Van.”

 

“What’s go you all sorts of worried? Your prickly go missing?”

 

The mindbender tried to not look amused as he stood there, “just a bit worried, since New Year’s he’s been at the Citadel almost every waking hour he can be….unless the twins are close.”

 

“Ah, Raven missing him too, I take it?” The shadowquip moved to stand next to Kaleb and let out a low whistle, “this is a lot of keys, bro, you opening a resort?”

 

Kaleb rolled his eyes, “These are duplicate keys that both he and Lucy have. I was debating on asking one of the spirits to help...see what Hestor is doing at the Citadel.”

 

Vander scratched his cheek, “Corvus or Musca….or me. Probably a choice that won’t get you frustrated with them shooting off at the mouth.”

 

“I’m trying to keep you away from them with the twins being born, the last thing we need is them to decide to send you out because of….” Kaleb trailed off.

 

Vander snorted as he stood there and then shook his head, “I’m going out tomorrow.”

 

Kaleb’s nose curled, “...wonderful. Be safe?”

 

Vander shrugged, “I should be. It’ll more be whatever fucking twisted shit they want done that’s going to weigh on me.” he grinned, “but..I’ll go check on your Prickly before I leave.”

  


~)~))~)~)~

 

Hestor sat looking through a file for a trial coming up, barley Listening to the voices of the Brothers and Sisters as they talked from the other side of the room. Part of him wondered if they came out on purpose while he was at the Citadel but he’d not bothered to ask, it wasn’t worth the effort and really, the Sisters **still** gave him hungry looks like they wanted to devour him from time to time.

 

At this stage in his life, he knew that it was more them being quirky than anything else, but it still sent shivers down his spine when he saw the looks. He felt a tingle and looked over at them, narrowing his eyes as he saw Corvus. Now, not that he didn’t use the spirit often, he didn’t, both he and Lucy had a contract to the Stealth Spirit, but she used him much more than she did.

 

The Spirit looked over and grinned before swirling away in shadows and Hestor felt something...dark come over the room. Dark enough that he swore his vision was fading. He wanted to feel panic, but it seemed like everything melted away around him, he didn’t even have control over his body as he stood and walked around the desk.

 

The people in the hallways that saw the Celestial Mage paused, the steel blue eyes were glowing and the ten spirits behind him gave off an aura that no one should bother the group.

 

“What are you doing here?” A voice called out, Hestor trying to focus through the magic, but all he saw was dark swirls and heard the purr of the sisters at ‘meals’ as they stood behind him.

 

His own voice seemed to be disembodied as he heard it, “The Hall of The Two Truths call for assemblage.”

 

“Hestor!” Oh, that was Tesso’s voice, he knew that one, working with the man so closely.

 

“Do what you must, General, but the Hall will not be denied.” Again, he inwardly frowned at how distant his own voice sounded.

 

“Someone call Kaleb! Now!” The general’s command was the last thing that registered in his mind before his vision went Dark and magic broke from him.


	7. The Sea at Dusk

Kaleb felt the tingle of magic and his eyes narrowed. It wasn’t too familiar, but familiar enough that he knew something was happening. He heard his com go off just as he was literally yanked to Hestor, magic coming to bear and his armor being forced out of requip.

 

The sight that the blood hunters that had been going to attack Hestor was one of fear. Fire curled around the Celestial mage and then wings of gold snapped into existence, a large blade catching the closest weapon before none of them could move. Kaleb’s eyes were blazing with power as his arm was around Hestor, holding the man back against his chest.

 

He frowned when Hestor simply leaned back, hands still held out as if holding something in each, but the glowing eyes were what had him worried. They were blank orbs as if the man wasn’t mentally there. The mindbender murmured softly, “come back to me, Hestor.”

 

“He won’t,” Kek-t said as she stood to the side, “not until the Hall has passed judgement.”

 

Lavender eyes narrowed, “what?” Kaleb knew Kek-t was the ‘youngest’ of the five sisters, but she was also the one most likely to give him answers, he could feel guilt from her when she looked at Hestor.

 

The female spirit spoke softly, even as the Council chamber started to change to the Hall, “there is a reason....our key holder, or holders, has been kept confined for centuries, Morning Star…” she smiled faintly, “they will enter this state when the Hall calls for judgement without their knowledge.”

 

“I thought that only happened if not all of the keys were together,” Kaleb held Hestor to him, refusing to let him go.

 

“No,” Kek-t said firmly, “there are two….states of the Hall being called. By the Key Holder...or by the Hall itself. More often than not, the Hall calls itself...and the holder…” she trailed off, looking at the seeming Fugue. “Becomes like this.”

 

Tesso scowled as he looked at the chaos and then growled out, “What does this mean for him?”

 

Kek-t looked at Tesso, “he has no knowledge of what is going on right now. Kaleb  **can** bring him to the surface, but he is nothing more than a Vessel for the Hall at the moment, unaware.”

 

The general stood there for a moment, “He will have to go into the Immaculate light to prove it.”

 

Kek-t stood there watching Tesso for a moment “so be it. He will have to when he gets married anyway.” her features looked actually amused.

 

“You have no fear for your master,” Tesso watched the Spirit warily.

 

“Of course we don’t,” One of the brothers spoke, the tallest with eyes that looked like jades, “we wouldn’t be with him if we had fear for him.”

 

“Abraxis,” Kek-t tutted as she stood there, crossing her arms on her chest, “honestly….”

 

A male spirit with silver hair and yellow eyes cleared his throat, “if you two are done. We are waiting on Lady Libra.”

 

“She will be here shortly,” came a soft voice as a woman with deep seafoam hair and yellow eyes matching the male spirit’s appeared. She smiled as she held out a hand to the male, “Ma’at.”

 

The male took the hand bringing it up and kissing the back, “Ammit, as beautiful as ever.”

 

Kek-t and another male spirit made gagging noises then looked pointedly away from the two and Kaleb couldn’t help the small smile on his lips. For as infuriating as the group was, they were still...almost human in a way.

 

“You were saying?” Kaleb prompted, still protectively holding the unaware celestial mage close as he noticed the magic of the Hall actually pull the ‘threats’ away from  his mate.

 

“Hmm?” Kek-t looked at Kaleb for a moment and shrugged, “nothing.”

 

The mindbender let out a low growl, but Ammit interrupted, “He is magically locked away, a failsafe on the Hall, if you will. The Judgement of the Souls can be...trying if the one chosen to open the Hall isn’t prepared, or knows the Judgement will come.” she gave a faint smile, “we protect our Mage, as they protect our keys.”

 

The Air rippled and not only did Libra appear, Vander did as well. The shadowquip blinked slowly as he got his bearings, “...well, this is fucking weird... “ he looked around and frowned, “this place...again....” he snorted, “yanno, Hes...not sure this is a good vacation pla…” his voice trailed off as he looked at the silver haired mage, “...uh...Kaleb?”

 

“He’s fine,” Kaleb snapped, watching as the council was settled aloft in magical bindings, “what are you doing here?”

 

“Well, I was nosing around...and well Corvus handed me enough files I swear he was trying to  **kill** me..” he made a face, “so...we’ve got reading material…”

 

“You saw something though,” Kaleb arched an eyebrow as he put his sword and armor back into requip space and waited.

 

Vander avoided his brother’s eyes and looked around “yeah....found out...a couple things that really, kinda glad that these eleven are doing something about.”

 

“Vander?” Tesso frowned as he walked towards the younger man.

 

Vander made a face and pulled two files out of requip and handed them to the General, “First few pages of each are...interestingly incriminating.”

 

The General looked at Libra, waiting to see what the woman would proclaim the ‘charges’ to be, but she stood there as the Brothers and Sisters started the ritual, “Lady Libra? Charges?”

 

The Spirit looked at Tesso for a moment “Conspiring to take two babies, hiding the reason behind the death of Ganier Roulet, hiding the fact and reasoning behind her death.” she paused and looked at both Maat and Ammit, arching an eyebrow as the two shrugged, “....and plans to not only strip the magic out of one archangel, but the newest as well.” Vander let out a low growl at the last one, eyes narrowed, but Libra spoke, “do not worry, this is...the abridged list, Corvus found all necessary files that will help you with explaining what has transpired.”

 

The woman stood there and then three of the council were lowered as the feather on the scales tipped so far down that the ‘orb’ that was their souls nearly flew off them, “They are clear.” Her lips curled into a smirk as she saw the other four, “Torture, coercion, killing, immoral use of other humans, trapping innocents in your power plays, dealing with both Joya and Peregrande.” her voice went firm, “human trafficking of at least one of the Celestial Mages that died during the Eclipse gate.” her lips curled into a twisted smile, “This has been a long time coming.”

 

Seeing the sisters all move together and amalgamate into a large, massive creature that would bring nightmares to some as it moved on the four, a secondary and ghostly figure of each appearing in the air before it devoured each, leaving the members of the steel council screaming in pain for most of the process until they went still. The creature then split back into the five women and looked at the blood hunters.

 

“They need a tri-” Tesso didn’t finish as the five were tearing into the blood hunters, hands slamming through their chests without leaving a mark and tearing out souls as the men screamed as they devoured the souls with the look of a person having a good meal after a very long time of having no food.

 

Kek-t let out a small belch as she put her hand to her mouth attempting to appear dainty, “mm, delicious.”

 

Kaleb slowly blinked, “what….just happened?”

 

Ammit gave a soft hum, “we had a meal.” her voice was firm “and they attacked our key holder.”

 

“I don’t think you needed to do that to them,” Kaleb spoke firmly.

 

“They had nothing left, other than their twisted fidelity to the council,” Kek-t said as she stretched and let out a yawn, “nap time, I think.”

 

Libra snapped her fingers and the Hall disappeared, Tesso letting out a startled sound as a stack of folders as tall as him suddenly landed next to him, “indeed and I’m sure you will wish to put Hestor in the Lacrama.”

 

Tesso mumbled, “does it count as treason at this point?”

 

Kek-t hummed as the other spirits disappeared, “no.” she grinned at Tesso before she was gone herself, “Keep your nose clean, General.” she licked her lips, “A good soul falling from grace tastes wonderful.”

 

Hestor let out a groan as the last of the magic left and slumped. It took a few moments of him blinking for him to get a coherent thought in his head and he mumbled, “....i feel like I just ran for three days straight.”

 

~)~)~)~)~

  
  


In the two days that Hestor recovered from the ordeal, the massive amount of files were gone through, Kaleb feeling a headache just grow as each page was turned. “What, Van?”

 

“Your mate killed eight people….well his spirits,” Vander leveled a look at Kaleb, “that’s…”

 

Kaleb let out a low sound as he sat there, “keep looking and marking, Van, or we’re going to have more issues than just the Knights wanting to imprison Hestor...because I’m Fairly certain that even Uncle Tesso never saw them turning on the Steel Council.”

 

“So...we’re marking all this and what? Giving it to Dad and Uncle Tesso to talk with the King?”

 

Kaleb nodded, “and myself, if Hestor is there, I will be there.”

 

“Gonna say now, this is all sorts of fucked up...and not in the Hestor has a kinky place for you two to have sex way,” Vander grinned as he flipped a page, “but...I saw those beds off in the side rooms....one of them I swore I saw one of Hestor’s shirts in.”

 

“It was from the Eclipse gate,” Kaleb leveled a look at Vander, “I would also have to wonder if the spirits would be there if we did that…”

 

“Are you telling me that Hestor is  **shy** ?” Vander grinned broadly.

 

The guildmaster rolled his eyes, “you’ve called while we’ve been having sex, you know that’s not the case.”

 

“Yeah, but he was also covered in honey,” Vander shrugged, “so...yanno….”

 

“Vander,” Kaleb rolled his eyes, “get to the point.”

 

Vander snorted, “just saying...how does time pass there? I mean, I know your stamina, took fifteen minutes here, how long there?”

 

Kaleb went to give his brother a scathing remark, then thought back, arching an eyebrow, “That’s genius. Time passes much slower there.”

 

Vander let out a chuckle, “you’re really going to see if he’ll do it?”

 

“Fifteen minutes here for two hours of time to ourselves? Yes,” Kaleb grinned slightly, “I’m sure he won’t mind.” much. He was sure Hestor wouldn’t mind much. Maybe. It all probably depended on his mood at the time.

 

~)~)~)~)~

  
  


An Hour in the Lacrama was what was called for and Hestor nodded as he stepped into it, taking deep breaths, he’d come to and seen the ‘carnage’ of the nine dead and while he felt relieved seeing Grendace dead, he didn’t understand why Lixly, Verace, and Tudrow were among the dead. He’d felt a bit of horror, knowing that this was his trial to see if he’d meant to kill them of his own volition. 

 

The warmth had first spread and then his breath caught in his throat as he felt icy fingers and in the darkness behind his lids, he saw Charon. The being shushed him and it left him shaking as each memory was shot through by the holy light. He could feel the warmth, but it was washed away by the hands that were holding onto his face, burning his skin with how cold they were. 

 

He was coming face to face with Death again and it made him shudder. It seemed like forever, and yet no time at all, before the lacrama opened and he fell out, breath creating fog with each puff as he took deep gulps of the air. He instinctively leaned his face into the warm hand, feeling the comfort and let out a low hum before his eyes opened and he smiled faintly, “i’m fine, Kaleb.”

 

“You don’t look fine,” Tesso said from the side, watching the Celestial mage and taking him in.

 

The silver haired man slowly got to his feet and leaned against Kaleb, “I’m fine, General...just dealing with my...condition.”

 

“Condition?” Tesso narrowed his eyes, “explain.”

 

Hestor debated for a moment, looking into Kaleb’s eyes when he finally spoke, “I’ve been touched by Charon. Any time that....I get in a state that will possibly bring me close to death, he will be there, waiting to see if I fall.” he made a faint face, “you could say I walk a line between being alive and being dead because of what happened on top of Mercurius.”

 

The Celestial mage leaned on Kaleb a bit more than he normally would, his magic searching out the other man’s and trying to wrap into it, “I’ll be fine. I just need to warm up.”

 

“When did you know of this condition?” Tesso’s lips were drawn into a thin line.

 

“A few months,” Hestor said and he could feel two sets of eyes boring into him, “stop. I said I’m fine. It’s a byproduct of what happened. I’m not afraid of it.” his firm look was directed at Kaleb, “it’s jarring, yes, but nothing I  **can’t** get through.” he snorted, “I came back to you from death once, have faith that I am going nowhere,  _ hero. _ ”

 

Kaleb let out a faint sigh and mumbled, “let keep those times to a minimum.”

 

“As much as I can,” Hestor murmured as he let his head rest in the crook of Kaleb’s neck. He felt the icy touch at the back of his mind, knowing the question that came with it and pushed, no shoved back a soul resounding ‘no’ before he took a breath, “let’s go home.”

 

Kaleb debated for a moment, “let’s go on a small trip.” The Celestial Mage let out a questioning sound and the mindbender chuckled, “i’m not telling you where.”

 

~)~)~)~))~

  
  
  


Kaleb smiled, glad that Hestor had rested for the trip that he’d planned. It was earlier than he’d wanted to, but he could feel the need for something familiar from the other man. The mindbender knew that Hestor would often swim if he got the feeling, but it only half soothed it away. Finding out where the man had come from had easily made him realize why: the Grass Sea had a distinct smell, but the ocean was a very different one. 

 

He also had mulled over what they’d learned when Gabriel and Ganier were born: water soothed Celestial Mages most times. Water drew them to it because of the pull of celestial bodies and it allowed them close to it, save for in places like Stella and the Academe. Kaleb watched as he came back from putting the last bag in the rented cottage and watched as the Celestial mage slowly came around.

 

The first thing hestor smelled was sea water, salty and with a familiar tang that wasn’t the grass sea. His brow furrowed a bit and he wondered how long he’d truly slept as he slowly opened his eyes. It was night, so he’d at least taken the better part of the day to rest, “Kaleb?”

 

“Like I said, a trip,” Kaleb grinned as he helped the other out of the car and to his feet. It didn’t take long for Hestor to know where they were. Especially as the wind shifted and he smelled clams; his hand came up as he slowly looked around and covered his mouth,  _ “you didn’t.” _

 

_ “I thought you might like your home.” _

 

“KID” the voice that rang through the air had Hestor’s head snapping around and blinking before rolling his eyes.

 

The man snorted, “i’m not a kid anymore, Zuri!”

 

“I dunno,” The older man grinned, “still kinda scrawny.”

 

The celestial mage rolled his eyes and then let out a sound as he was grabbed in a bearhug. He struggled for a moment and then sighed as he went limp, “are you done yet?”

 

The man chuckled and put Hestor down, “You here for the Lantern Harvest?”   
  
“What’s that?” Kaleb frowned a bit.

 

Steel blue eyes rolled as he looked at Zuri in amusement, “no, my promised just decided that I needed a break from big city life.”

 

“You going to dive, kid?”

 

Hestor slowly arched an eyebrow, “what sort of question is that.” He looked at Kaleb in mild amusement at the confused look on his features before nodding down the beach, “come on,  _ hero _ , let’s get you some food while they ready the lanterns for the water.”

 

~)~)~)~)~

 

Kaleb watched in mild amusement as Hestor was half mobbed by people both older and a few their own age. The celestial mage snarking back at them and it being returned in kind. The man was shuffled off to a changing room and Kaleb had taken a moment when the man had come back out in a white pair of swim bottoms with a net around his waist and shells decorating his hair. 

 

Currently, the man was snorting in laughter at one of the females, a woman with deep blue hair that was trying to, if Kaleb heard right, get the man to sing, “come on! You sang to the sea before! “

 

Hestor rolled his eyes and gave her a light shove, “The sea need not hear my voice.”

 

“The sea hasn’t heard your voice in years,” Zuri called out, “let Her hear it!”

 

People were bustling about and gave a few cheers as lanterns were readied. Hestor scowled slightly and let out a huff, “I’ve not sung in years.”

 

“I call bullshit,” the woman grinned, “your eyes are dancing, I bet you do when you’re alone.”

 

“You know, Melina, you’re a pain in the ass,” Hestor snorted at the blue haired woman.

 

Melina grinned as she shrugged, “only when I get out the strap on!”

 

Hestor chuckled a bit as he stood there and then moved to pick up one of the lanterns.  He looked at it for a long moment before closing his eyes, focusing and the lantern lit in his hands as he started to sing, soon enough, others started to flicker to life. The man’s voice was much deeper than one would expect from the silver haired man and the song, though Kaleb couldn’t figure out the words, ebbed and flowed like the tides. 

 

The mindbender wished he knew the words, but the feeling that he got was that it was a song to the sea, as a lover.  He stepped towards the water as instruments started to join in from a small group that had seemed to be waiting. 

 

The song eventually changed and Kaleb watched as the group continued to light the lanterns, the song became faster, something given the beat and clapping, a sea shanty of some sort. Eventually, the water was filled with lights beneath the surface as the woman used her water magic to take the lanterns and whisk them away.

 

“The lanterns still resonate with him best,” A taller man said from the side and Kaleb went to reply but a woman answered the man.

 

She snorted softly, “it is his magic. It always called to him.”

 

It took all Kaleb had to not look over quickly but slowly and what he saw was a couple that was well older than Hestor’s memories, but the woman’s hair alone gave her away as his mate’s biological mother...and most likely his Father, if by the resemblance to Hestor’s features alone weren’t enough. The two looked at Kaleb for a moment before the small woman’s eye saw the earrings, the man as well and the two gave a nod to the mindbender before his attention was torn by a laugh from the water’s edge followed by a shriek. When he looked back, the two were gone and he had to wonder if it had been his imagination, but he wasn’t sure it was.

 

“You  **asshole** !” Melina scowled as she tried to dunk Hestor’s head under the water where he’d fallen.

 

Hestor grinned, “you pushed me first.” he winked and then stood before clicking his tongue and taking off into the water, diving down within moments with the woman following him.

 

It was a few moments later that he  **felt** Hestor offer to see what he was seeing and Kaleb took the chance. What he saw through his mate’s eyes was like the night sky beneath the waves. The man didn’t touch any though and was soon swimming away from the bed of clams as more bodies came into the water. Through his own eyes, he saw hestor surface and take a few breaths before diving back and taking the sight in again.

 

There was a shimmer and Kaleb recognized a dolphin appearing next to Hestor and the man grabbed onto the fin before the creature was taking off.  Eventually, Hestor let go and came up, Kaleb barely able to see the man and when he was back under, the depths were inky but he could see the glimmer off the shells through the man’s eyes as he dove and eventually righted himself in a way to carefully pick and chose a few. 

 

Kaleb’s own eyes narrowed as he felt something from one of the clams and directed Hestor to it. He smirked when it was turned over and half a key was sticking out.  _ “Cute.” _

 

_ “Not intentional.” _

 

Actually seeing the roll of the eyes had kaleb chuckling before a few more of the clams were cherry picked by his mate and then he surfaced. Kaleb’s attention was grabbed at a sigh and he looked at Zuri, “....yes?”

 

“He went out beyond the lights, didn’t he?” The older man looked amused, “kid always went out further than even his dad did.”

 

“It’s not typical?” Kaleb could sense where Hestor was, even as the man dove back down into the water.

 

Zuri shook his heads, “no, the currents can be tricky out there...and trust me he was a tiny thing for the longest time.”

 

“Do only certain people dive..or?”

 

The older man chuckled, “this is for them, we dive all year long, but this night is for the generation coming into fruition, not one that we just let the youth participate in. They’ll now be considered Divers by the Sea and get the respect that comes with that.”

 

~)~))~)~

 

It was over an hour and a half before the lanterns started to fade and then what followed was a feast, with music that was very much, Kaleb decided all sea shanties. The clams brought back had been sorted, cleaned and any pearls set aside by their finders. He’d been drug into the dancing and Hestor had been rather patient, or maybe it was that there didn’t seem to be any real anything to the dance short of clapping and moving about.

 

He’d taken a break, but Hestor seemed to be simply overly full of energy as the evening continued. His mate’s voice often filled the air, the deeper tone from before replaced by something a bit higher, as if the deep tones had been specifically meant for those ‘opening’ songs.

 

He snorted as Hestor and two other man were singing, though the music barely changed, he recognized the song as One that vander had laughed about called ‘4 chords’ where only small changes but with very little else created a medley of songs.

 

When the three were done, Hestor’s features were soft and Kaleb realized why the man kept so much of himself..to himself. When the man opened up,  he was radiant, especially in the moonlight and firelight. The Celestial Mage looked over, arching an eyebrow before excusing himself and grabbing a few drinks. Kaleb couldn’t help but chuckle as Hestor stumbled a bit and stood to meet his mate, “you alright.”

 

“Perfectly fine,” Hestor tried to sound snippish, but his tone was filled with laughter and he leaned against Kaleb, “you could come join.” the man purred as he kissed Kaleb.

 

“I’m afraid I don’t know the music,” Kaleb looked amused, “and I don’t think I would find your movements as adorable close up.” He wrapped one arm around the other man and took one of the drinks, sipping it and blinking at the taste and burn, “..what is this?”

 

Hestor grinned as he sipped his own, “scotch made here, broken shells are placed in the barrels before they’re charred.”

 

Kaleb didn’t feel the effects of alcohol, but he could appreciate the taste, and Hestor had been drinking as well. Something, he realized, made the man open up. He kissed his mate lightly “ready to go to bed?”

 

Hestor let out a low hum as he leaned against the mindbender. His nose scrunched again as he stood there and then sipped his drink again as his eyes slowly panned to the fire, “not yet. Just let me lean against you.”

 

It wasn’t long after Hestor had drained his glass that Kaleb felt the soft breathing against his neck and chuckled softly. The man blinked when a blanket was draped over them and he looked at the woman, keeping his voice low, “you’re his mother.”

 

The woman smiled and nodded, “he seems...light again.”

 

“He has all the Keys to the Hall,” Kaleb slowly let his fingers curl through Hestor’s hair, “I will never let him be harmed.”   
  
“Good, don’t let him go to Stel-”

 

“The Xings know about him,” Kaleb watched the woman pale and he shook his head, “they will not trap him. He is going to be co-Master of White Sea. we won’t let them take him away.”

 

Ming took a breath, “he gave you the pearls.”

 

Kaleb nodded, “he told me his secrets.”

 

The woman smiled warmly, “cheeky little shit.”

 

“Our magic bound us, through our feelings,” He kissed the top of Hestor’s hair gently, “The One magic brought us together, but our feelings tied us to one another.”

 

Ming gave a small nod, “Good. rest. No one sleeps until dawn tonight, though you may wish to move closer to the fire.” She stood and turned, starting away.

 

“Won’t you talk to him?”

 

The woman paused for a moment, “perhaps. We will see.”

  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> yes, that is Hestor behind the mask. he could have turned it all down, but when one goes home, one indulges.


	8. The Sea, The Stars and Working Together

Kaleb had fallen asleep sometime during the evening and when he woke with the sun, he felt Hestor yawning and stretching a bit. His mate let out a soft sigh and the mindbender watched the steel blue eyes slowly open. It wasn’t uncommon for Hestor to rise with him, though he often was coaxing the other out of sleep, not watching as awareness slowly came to the other’s eyes on its own. 

 

“Good morning,” Kaleb spoke softly, watching Hestor slowly draw the morning air in.

 

Hestor let out a low sound and smiled as he looked up at Kaleb, “I almost thought I dreamt yesterday.” his eyes slowly moved to the indigo waters and he let out a breath “That it was something that either Charon or the Immaculate Light was showing me as I was dying.” he snorted softly and nuzzled the other man gently, “don’t frown.”

 

“You speak of dying as if it’s possible at any time,” Kaleb spoke softly.

 

Hestor let out a soft snort, “it is, we’re both working mages. You may be powerful, but you can be killed.” He slowly stood and then smiled as he tugged the other’s hand, “come on, let’s get you changed, then wake up.”

 

“Wake up after getting dressed?” the mindbender arched an eyebrow, “I think you’ve got things a bit backwards.”

 

Hestor stretched and took a deep breath of the air, “fine, i’m going for a swim without you then.” He man winked before he let the other man go and strode towards the water. The man stripped when he got close and then looked over his shoulder at Kaleb with an arched eyebrow before wading in and then diving into the salty liquid.

 

_ “I don’t think salt water is good to clean up in.” _

 

Hestor’s mental laugh caught him off guard,  _ “this is to wake up, there’s a crisp chill to the water.”  _  The Celestial Mage surfaced and looked at Kaleb as he ran his hands through his hair, pushing it and the shells back  _ “you don’t want to play in the water, hero?” _ The man’s lips were quirked into a small, challenging smirk as he tread the water. The man looked behind him and Kaleb felt his confusion.

 

_ “Hestor?” _

 

_ “...something in the water. Don’t come in.” _

 

_ “Get your ass to shore.” _

 

_ “If It’s a shark and I move fast, it will attack,” _ Kaleb could feel the ire from the man,  _ “hopefully it’s not, but I have to wait, Kaleb.” _

 

_ “I don’t like this.” _

 

Hestor mentally snorted at him,  _ “some of us grew up with these dangers, Kaleb. sharks shouldn’t be here this time of year….but...I don’t want to risk it.” _

 

Kaleb watched his mate and couldn’t help but snort back laughter as a dolphin came up and spit water in his face. The Celestial Mage’s voice raising in a curse as what he could only equate to two five year olds in a splashing contest began.

 

The mindbender could sense people waking up from the ruckus, not many of them pleased, but it soon turned to amusement seeing the silver haired man in a ‘war’ with a dolphin in the water. The war seemed to turn in Hestor’s favor when Delphinus was summoned, then the man let out a yelp as his spirit seemed to gang up on him with the other dolphin. It wasn’t long before Hestor was sulking onto shore with a half hearted ‘traitor!’ yelled over his shoulder to the very cheerful sounding spirit.

 

Melina snorted softly, “you’ve never won against a dolphin before.”

 

“Shut up,” Hestor huffed as he grabbed his clothing off the sand and washed it out in the water.

 

Kaleb chuckled at his mate, watching the man huff and spit as the woman leaned against his back. He could feel the attraction the woman had for him, but there was nothing regarding her other than a sort of Little Sister feeling from Hestor. The touches from the woman lasted a little too long and were a little too intimate for his tastes, even with the man ignoring them.

 

As Hestor dressed, the woman watched him with a longing in her eyes that had Kaleb on edge, but the man patted her on the head and then walked towards him with a slightly arched eyebrow. Whatever cross thing he was going to say never got out as he let out a yawn and shook his head, “I think more sleep is in order, let’s go to our cabin and then I’ll find a place to curl up, hopefully with you.”

 

~)~)~)~)~

 

Kaleb saw the Hestor behind the mask, the young man that grew up in a village that brought rare beauty into the world without over harvesting like many places would do. While he would dive, it seemed like the clams weren’t his main reason, but the view beneath the water itself. Looking through Hestor’s eyes, kaleb saw an entirely different world, yet so like the night sky at the same time that he could understand how the entire village revered the sea and the sky at the same time.

 

Over the next few days, the man was constantly in the water, a light figure among the deeper skin tones of the others and he almost always went out to a point where Kaleb could feel the worry from the others; The mindbender knew that the man had spirits to help him, to keep him from getting sucked out by the deep tides that were a danger where he’d go out to, but that didn’t stop the worry. 

 

Feeling sudden terror from Hestor made him pause in the meal he was having and he half stood, eyes narrowing.

 

Zuri looked at Kaleb and arched an eyebrow, “what?”

 

“He’s...terrified,” The guildmaster frowned, “why would he be terrified?”

 

The older man’s lips drew into a thin line, “sharks...which are unlikely or-”

 

One of the children squealed happily “Jellyfish!”

 

“...jellyfish,” The man stood, bellowing out, “everyone out of the water! Jellyfish bloom!”

 

Kaleb watched as people came out of the water calmly, but quickly, a few hissing as they were tended to for stings.  _ “Hestor!” _

 

He felt the sharp pain through their bond and felt a bit of panic that didn’t lessen when the other spoke back,  _ “i’m fine, i’ll be fine...I just...have to...wait.”  _ he could feel that his mate was not as calm as he was trying to sound. 

 

_ “You can only hold your breath so long.” _

 

_ “I know...I know….”  _ there was another stab of pain through their link,  _ “i also have to attempt to find the surface through all of these things...they refract the light too much.” _

 

Kaleb debated, Zen could pull Lucy to him and he pulled his focus in, taking deep breaths before winding his magic around their bond and yanking. He felt the start of the tingle, but a sharp pain through their bond and then he was in the water unexpectedly. It took him a second to make sure he didn’t breath in as his wings snapped out, sending waves around him and clearing out the jellyfish directly around them. He wrapped an arm around Hestor and used the wings to propel them up out of the water, where he could feel the sun. he didn’t stop as he broke the surface, flying into the air and feeling a bit of satisfaction as the other man clung to him, though he was shaking.

 

_ “How many times were you stung?” _

 

Hestor took a moment, taking stock of his body and mumbled, “six? Seven?” the man’s voice was laced with pain as they landed on the shore and any other time, he may have complained about being carried but he truly wasn’t sure he was able to actually walk. “Stop worrying, they didn’t have deadly levels of venom.” he let his head rest on the man’s shoulder, eyes closing and he mumbled, “take me to where the others are, they will deal with this.” he hissed, “and don’t even think of calling Cristoff. This is normal dealings here.”

 

Hestor had only huffed a bit as he was taken care of, grumbling as the venom was taken care of and he got a long and extended lecture on not scratching. This had caused the man’s lips to curl back into a sneer as his fingers twitched as he could feel the itch starting already now that things were dealt with better. To help deal with the thought of itching, the man had wrapped his legs and then worn pants but no boots.

 

“We should head back soon,” kaleb said softly as he watched Hestor look ready to tear into a scratching fit.

 

“I have one thing to do….we can leave tomorrow,” The celestial mage looked at the other man and then smiled before lightly kissing him, “Thank you for this.”

 

“You’re welcome,” Kaleb chuckled, “now….go do what you need to do.”

 

~)~)~)~)~

 

It had taken Hestor nearly an hour to get to the familiar home, not because of the size of the village, but because he kept stopping and his mind was trying to talk him out of going to the home he wanted to go to. No one would ever realize just how much wealth anyone in the village had because of the pearls, it was kept humble because that was what they were: humble for the most part. They knew the dangers of the sea, the fickleness of the currents and how a life could be lost by a shift in the waters.

 

He stood at the door to the home, hand out for a moment before he took a breath and went to knock, blinking as he looked up into dark eyes and saw dark hair around a face that was almost like his own, only with a much darker coloring. As a child, he’d cursed how he’d looked, knowing that others looked at him differently not just because he was smaller, but because he was paler overall.

 

“...Dad,” his voice was soft as he stood there and then sighed as he slumped into a hug and returned it. Over a decade he’d been gone and this was something that he’d missed until Kaleb. The calm strength that eased his mind and let him just be.

 

The man pulled back after a moment and smiled, “come in, your mother waits.”

 

Hestor rolled his eyes, “Cryptic.”

 

“It’s your mother,” Kiran looked amused as he shut the door behind Hestor and lead him to the common area of the home.

 

Hestor looked at the woman for a moment before walking over and sitting on the floor by her legs and putting his head in her lap, wrapping his arms around her waist and just sitting without saying anything as he felt the small hand start to curl through his hair.  The man let out a small sound as his lips curled into a small smile at the comforting motion.

 

“You told him.”

 

Hestor mumbled, not moving how he was sitting, nuzzling into her leg a bit and giving a small shrug, “it felt right.”

 

“I hear a ‘but’...” the woman’s voice was soft, gentle like a breeze in the night.

 

Hestor groaned, “it’s a long story…”

 

“Tell me,” Ming spoke as she continued to curl her fingers through the soft hair, nails shifting to gently scratch his scalp.

 

Hestor was quiet for a few moments before he started talking, crying at times as he relieved mentally what happened, but in the end, he’d dozed off thanks to the fingers in his hair. Ming sat there for a moment and smiled faintly, “he’s finally safe from the set.”

 

Kiran nodded as he at and watched the two, “he is.”

  
  


~)~)~)~)~

 

Leaving had been, Kaleb found, a three hour affair as Hestor had been snarking as people tried to put more and more things for them to take back with them. After being run off, the adults had learned the children were the best way as the man never truly got heated with them. Kaleb realized that large pleading eyes had something to do with it and every time a child would happily laugh and walk away the man was eyeing said child’s parents with a narrowed look that almost promised vengeance. 

  
  


He’d tried to get out of there with nothing in his hair, but the only one that had managed to get close to his hair was his mother and she had stared at him, arched an eyebrow and they’d stood for ten minutes in a contest of wills that Hestor eventually gave into  and bowed his head down, letting her slide a shell on a clip near his temple, as the Celestial mage’s father chuckled softly. 

 

Kaleb almost wagered it was a slightly different man that came back with him, and he would have, if he hadn’t seen the walls go up as soon as the got to the guild and the canis major sliding out of a sparkle at his side. ‘The More things change…’ was his only thought as the two moved to get an early dinner, especially when Lucy was leaping on his back with a whine and he pat her arm lightly. He kissed Hestor’s cheek, “I’ll take it to a table near the stairs.”

 

He watched the two mages as his mate picked off a small pastry and saw the steel blue eyes roll at something that Lucy whispered. Hestor’s hand went to her head and pushed her back with a scowl before he grumbled darkly. The man looked ready to run as she opened her mouth for a moment, then there was a swirl of magic and Kaleb had the man in his lap.

 

“Oh that’s cheating!” Lucy called out across the guildhall, scowling.

 

Both men sat there and Hestor picked up Kaleb’s drink, taking a sip, “it worked.”

 

Kaleb slowly blinked and nodded, “it did...something tells me you’re going to be using that a lot.”

 

Hestor’s lips quirked, “maybe.”

 

Kaleb shook his head a bit as he sat there and then kissed the man’s temple. He relaxed at the fact that the man seemed to have drawn back the Hall Keys enough that he could sense the man’s thoughts if he wanted.  _ “So I was thinking..” _

 

Hestor arched an eyebrow as he eyed Kaleb’s food and picked up a piece, leaning back a bit as he ate it.  _ “You always think, but please enlighten me.” _

 

_ “Cheeky,” _ Kaleb chuckled as he attempted to eat,  _ “would your spirits let us use the Hall for private time.” _

 

_ “N…” _ Hestor paused and furrowed his brow, even as Kaleb ate the food off the fork he was holding,  _ “..maybe?” _

 

_ ‘Yeeeeeeeeees’ _

 

Hestor Rolled his eyes as he heard Kek-t, “there’s your answer.”

 

~)~)~)~)~

  
  


Vander scowled as he looked across the practice field at Kaleb and Hestor. He knew that Lucy and Hestor were neck and neck, but this was also helping Lucy in the few days that she had to be able to get some training in before they went back to Fiore to finish up there and then the group was off for the Lunar New Year on, apparently, a standing offer from the Xing family. His annoyance was, frankly, in that it seemed like Hestor had become almost more devious.

 

Anytime he’d get almost to the point of getting a hit on Kaleb, his brother just wasn’t there and Hestor was smirking, or the damn mage was right there with one of his damn short swords. He hadn’t expected the man to actually take more to the magic bond than Lucy had. No, he took that back, he did. Hestor was a shrewd and calculating man and whatever trip that he and kaleb had gone on? The Celestial mage had come back a different person. He wondered about the shell clip, but he wouldn’t talk about it. He’d noticed that Sercha had actually seen the shell and had tried to swamp the mage, who had promptly ‘disappeared’. Hestor was very much getting used to that ability in the bond and using it every chance he could it seemed.

 

Lucy groaned as she fell on her ass, “I give. What the hell.” her head fell back and she sighed deeply.

 

“So, Lunch is on you,” Hestor smirked as he stood there, crossing his arms on his chest.

 

Lucy let out a huff and sighed, “fine, lunch is on us.”

 

“Good, there’s a new stellan place I wish to shame,” Hestor smirked as he turned and started out of the training area.

 

Vander snorted, “man…” he shook his head, “still...crazy fucking control he’s got over that.”

  
  


Kaleb let out a hum, “we’ve a lot to learn, yes, but I think all of us do.”

 

Lucy pouted a bit as she stood and rubbed her lower back, “yeah...he’s got nasty fine control now…” she snorted, “and gonna guess he’s opened up?” she tapped her temple.

 

Kaleb grinned, “he has, made it a bit easier to figure out what he was doing.”

 

Vander snorted, “unfair, I fucking swear.”

 

Lucy sighed, “if I can do it with my spirits, I can figure out how to do it with you and Zen...somehow.” she looked frustrated as she ran her hands through her hair, “when i get back from Fiore...I’ll see how much research I can find on it.” she scratched her scalp and sighed, “I’ll be glad for the Lunar new Year.”

  
  



	9. Games of Cat and Mouse

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Little steamy at the end, but well...the boys will be themselves.

Hestor had half put input in when it came to the new year’s event, in fact, he’d actually sent a letter home to see if they could get clams for the buffet. The news that they were promised had circulated, but Kaleb more often than not had found Hestor’s ire rising during talks with the caterers. The second time someone had asked if they were looking for a surrogate, Kaleb had found himself thirty feet away from the woman and being kissed for all he was worth as the celestial mage let out a possessive growl.

 

It had happened a few times when he’d simply been walking through the guildhall and he wasn’t sure exactly why it seemed like Hestor was visibly making quite the claim on him. Lucy’s giggling each time it had happened had made him wonder and probing at her had gotten him nothing.

 

Everyone was getting ready, but Hestor was nowhere to be found, at least until Kaleb went down to check on things and he was talking with a group of people that he recalled from Eventide Bay. they were going over things and the man had a clam shell in his mouth, almost sucking on it, which was bringing in looks from guildmates. He was talking with Zuri as the two looked at the chilled clams, inspecting them and Hestor opened one, checking it and nodding after a smirking at the half heated glower he was given.

 

While Kaleb didn’t see the man’s father, he did see Hestor’s mother who was staring at him with her arms crossed. The guildmaster was a bit too focused on the fact that the man was wearing the lavender shirt he liked and it took him a moment to realize the woman was talking fairly rapidly in Stellan in a voice that was chastising.

 

Hestor rolled his eyes, shooting back at her and then started when his ear was grabbed. There were quite a few laughs about as the man didn’t lash out at the woman as she drug him down to her level, but was shooting right back, leaving Zuri and Melina to put the clams out on ice. Hestor threw his hands in the air and scowled before the woman nodded and then put a strand of pearls around the crown of his head.

 

“I look like a girl.”

 

“Good. you’re acting like one,” Ming shot back at him as she let him go.

 

Melina looked over and purred, “damn, you always looked good with those in your hair..” she let out a wistful sigh, “like a child of the sea goddess.”

 

Hestor snorted and turned, only to be choked as it seemed Ming wasn’t done with him and he groaned as he stood there, “I am perfectly presentable. Stop.” The woman just stared at him and he let out a burdened sigh, “mother.”

 

Beck arched an eyebrow, “so you  **do** have parents. Here we thought you were just a hedgehog that became human with how prickly you are.”

 

Hestor slowly looked at Beck, eyes narrowed and his lips curled back into a snarl before he was again manhandled by the small woman. He would get back to the beastmaster as soon as his mother was done. He swore it.

 

Melina snorted, “of course he has parents, that’s a silly thing to think.” she arched an eyebrow as she looked at Beck, finishing putting out the clams and then waving a hand, water swirling to gently cradle the ice, “The Sea is all our mother and father....” she smirked, “he just  **looks** it more than everyone else. Not all of us are blessed.”

 

Ming shook her head, “I don’t recall you saying that when you were younger, Melina.” the woman arched an eyebrow, “if I recall, you used many words, including things to deal with his height.”

 

Hestor looked about ready to snap as he stood there, and Kaleb guessed that the only reason the man wasn’t ‘running away’ was because of his mother. The woman snatched the clam from his hand and his eyes narrowed before he let out a huff as she put it with the others. The mindbender saw the almost longing look in his eyes as he eyed the seafood and then put the shell back in his mouth almost like he was attempting to stave off the urge to go right around the small woman.

 

Melina snorted, “well, you have to admit..I had a head and a half on him at eleven.”

 

“Really?” Kaleb sounded amused as he stepped up behind the group.

 

Hestor narrowed his eyes on the blue haired woman, “not all of us grew like seaweed.”

 

Melina pat Hestor on the arm, watching Kaleb for a moment and leaving the hand there, “he was  **short** didn’t grow until after he left.” her lips curled into a mischievous grin, “though, he didn’t grow that much.”   
  
Beck chuckled, “no, I wouldn’t say he got that tall.”

 

Hestor looked at beck mouthing ‘i will end you’ before he rolled his eyes, “I’m a perfect height.”

 

“Oh?” Melina arched an eyebrow, “how so?”

 

Hestor stepped into kaleb, letting his head rest against the other’s neck and smirking at the woman as he slid one arm around  Kaleb’s waist and the other lazily over the mindbender’s shoulder “i don’t have to stoop to do this.”

 

The woman’s eyes narrowed a bit and Kaleb caught jealousy flashing across the woman. At him. He’d known there was still feelings there, but he hadn’t thought they would be so very heavy as he absently curled his arm around Hestor’s waist. The woman snarked at the Celestial Mage,  “Well, i guess it’s good your short then.”

 

Before Hestor got too riled, Ming’s thoughts came through loud and clear and kaleb brought a hand up, gently running his fingers through the silver hair and feeling Hestor relax almost instantly as he curled his fingers just a bit and let his nails lightly curl along his scalp. He nodded to the woman and then kissed the top of hestor’s head. He had to admit that the almost black pearls did stand out in the man’s hair and he could  **feel** Sercha and Vince vibrating with the thought of what they could do with the pearls. In fact, a lot of the guild was curious about how the normally prickly man was seemingly letting the guard down around the group of three.

 

Hestor let out a low sound as he shifted the shell in his lips and then shook his head, “I wish to just get through this.”

 

“Oh?” melina smirked, “why is that?”

 

Hestor gave her a flat look, “because then you’re going home.”

 

The woman pouted, “perhaps I shall stay.”

 

Zuri rolled his eyes, “no, you won’t. You promised Arien when you got back you’d go on a date.”

 

Melina grumbled a bit and Kaleb could feel that the woman was doing it to simply placate the man in question, “fine.” she took a breath and stretched, “clams should be good to go…” she winked, “i’m going to a bathhouse.”

 

Zuri shook his head as she sauntered away, only arching an eyebrow as she walked past the couple and ran a hand along Hestor’s side. Her eyes locked with kaleb’s in a clear challenge before she passed and then was threading her way out of the guildhall. The man rolled his neck, “well, we’re off to the market.”

 

Ming nodded slightly, “your father and I will be around later.” the woman smiled faintly at Kaleb and he swore he felt pity from the woman as she walked away.

 

Hestor snorted into Kaleb’s head,  _ “what’s got your emotions bunched up, hero?” _

 

_ “That woman.” _

 

_ “Melina? She’s been a constant pain in my ass since we were kids, she’s just teasing.” _

 

_ “She touched you for too long.” _

 

Hestor’s eyebrow shot up and he pulled back a bit, the shell coming out of his mouth and he looked at Kaleb, “are you jealous?”

 

“No,” The mindbender said bluntly, staring down at Hestor as his eyes narrowed a bit.

 

Hestor let out a soft sound, that seemed far more amused than it should have been, “you are.” he shook his head, “people do it to you all the time.” He slowly smirked and put the shell back in his lips, mental voice filled with amusement, _ “do you really think that she means anything? If you do, you’re being irrational. I would have never told her my secrets.” _

 

Kaleb was slightly mollified as he stood there, but looked almost petulant as well when he realized others were watching the two of them,  _ “I am not being irrational. She thinks that she still has a shot with you.” _

 

_ “We both know she doesn’t and she never did.”  _ Hestor eyed Kaleb for a moment and then shook his head,  _ “she likes to think she did, but she didn’t.”  _

 

_ “She touched too long.” _

 

Hestor let out a snort, followed by laughter as he stood there, eyes dancing  _ “you’re so damn jealous.”  _  he kissed the man’s cheek before turning and starting away,  _ “relax, kaleb. Honestly, I deal with it every day. You don’t see me lashing out at people touching you, do you?” _

 

Kaleb didn’t know how to counter that as he watched Hestor walk away and let out a small sigh. The man was infuriating at times and right now, kaleb could tell there was something running in his system that gave him an edginess that normally meant the man tugging him magically into a room, yet he wasn’t. The mindbender was completely and utterly confused and then rolled his eyes as someone got into Hestor’s bubble for longer than the man wanted and Canis Major was there, growling and making them back off.

 

“He is cute and prickly and he shall be mine...and I shall call him prickly,” Vander grinned as he stole one of the clams and ate it. The man paused for a moment as he stood there, “...damn.”

 

“...what is it, Vander,” Kaleb rolled his eyes, wondering why his brother was suddenly enraptured with the clam he’d just eaten.

 

“Fresh,” The shadowquip grinned, “which means...potent. Normally you’ve got to eat a lot to get going with them when they’re raw.”

 

Kaleb arched an eyebrow, “we’ve had fresh clams before, Van, I’m aware of the effects.” He watched Hestor across the hall, “they can’t be…” he trailed off as one of the clams was held out and before his fingers even touched it, he felt the pull of magic and was staring into narrowed eyes, “...Hes…”

 

“No eating them yet,” The Celestial mage let out a low growl, “they’re for the party, not before.” He leaned to the side and snatched the clam from Vander, “touch them again and I will geld you.” he put the clam back in its place, ignoring the cringing shadowquip.

 

“...that’s fucking still scary as hell,” Vander eyed the man that had appeared at his brother’s side, “...but gelding, over a clam?”

 

Hestor slowly turned and looked at Vander, “market value is ten thousand a clam. Do not eat them yet.”

 

_ “...why the hell did he get clams that expensive?” _

 

_ “He comes from the village they’re harvested in, most likely didn’t pay full price, Van.” _ Kaleb had to admit, it was almost cute watching Hestor fuss over things being ‘perfect’ before the party started and he let his hand move up, slowly grinning as he slid his fingers through the silvery hair and scratched just slightly. The celestial mage let out a low sound and leaned into the touch. Yes, he would be thanking Ming later for that bit of information.

  
  


~)~)~)~)~)~

  
  


Kaleb had somehow managed to ‘lose’ Hestor in the middle of the celebration. Oh, he could sense his mate, that wasn’t the issue, but he couldn’t see him and with the man being much more adept at pulling him and not the other way around, it left Kaleb mingling and half stalking through the festivities. The promised band he wore kept questions at bay, but everyone wanted to congratulate him….and Hestor, if he could  **find** the damn man. Kaleb felt the sensual edge that had been steadily growing through their bond and he was on a mission to find his mate.

 

He’d talked with the man’s parents for awhile and he could feel amusement from Ming as if she knew he was almost antsy trying to find Hestor. Kiran eventually had chuckled and patted Kaleb on the arm, a memory of what looked like a game of hide and seek of an ultimate scale in the water with his wife when they were younger and it clicked. Hestor was doing it on purpose, that’s why he’d felt the other man and swore he’d smelled him, but then nothing when he’d turned, other than a trail of warmth along his shoulders. It had significance however, to both of the adults, if one didn’t chase, there was no interest...and he’d played right into it, much to the amusement of Hestor’s parents.

 

It was close to midnight when he’d finally caught sight of the other man by the doors that led to the training rings out back. Kaleb had to pause when he took in how the mage looked. Hestor’s face was flushed and his shirt was open, hanging open and showing off his skin that was glimmering. Somehow, the celestial mage’s chest had gotten a fine glitter powder on it that caught the moonlight just like his hair. When they’re eyes met, Hestor’s danced with delight and mirth before winking, crooking his finger and ducking outside. The mindbender let out a low grunt as he made his way outside, half wondering why the sudden ‘game’, but seeing the other duck around the corner of the building made him grin as he followed. 

 

Hestor stood in the shadow of a tree, looking every bit like some creature that had come out of the water, he wouldn’t say ‘mermaid’ or ‘merman’, no, his mate reminded him more of a Nyx. A siren to lure him to a watery demise full of pleasure. The normally steel blue eyes were dark and the flush on his features just added to the siren like quality the man had at that moment.

 

Kaleb slowly stalked towards Hestor, letting out a low growl as he grinned, shifting to grab the man’s hands and pin them above his head. He couldn’t help the moan that was muffled as Hestor arched into him with a wanton sound that sent fire through his blood,  _ “you’ve been naughty.” _

 

_ “Mm, going to punish me?” _ Hestor purred back as he returned the harsh kiss, biting at Kaleb’s lower lip roughly as he shuddered when pressed back into the white wall again.

 

Kaleb let out a groan as his free hand went to the silver hair and dug in, twisting it and making the smaller man arch back as he let out another bawdy cry of pleasure. The man shuddered and looked at him and kaleb watched the heaving chest with a sense of satisfaction. He let out a low purr and bit the man’s earlobe, sucking it between his teeth,  _ “take us to the Hall.” _

 

Hestor let out a whimper as he shuddered, feeling the magic rise as he tapped into Kaleb’s magic through their bond and then around them and leaving nothing but a bit of stardust in the air where they had been. The man stumbled back a bit, hissing as his back found sandstone and he arched against the mindbender as Kaleb trapped him against the pillar. Normally filled with light, it seemed the only light currently in The Hall were a few torches around the dias that was covered in fabric that looked to be made of the night sky. The man let his mate go and then started to strip them both, never letting the other be anything but drunk on sensation until he’d lifted the smaller man onto the dais. He hadn’t expected to find the other prepared beforehand and arched an eyebrow.

 

_ “You think I wanted to wait?” _ Hestor challenged as he looked up at Kaleb, arching an eyebrow as he panted and gasped. His hands went up, sliding into the platinum hair and dragging the other man into a kiss before hooking his leg over one of Kaleb’s hips, dragging him closer.

 

Kaleb let out a growl into the kiss, grabbing Hestor’s other leg and rolling their hips together as he pulled up, listening to the pleading cry from the other. He grinned as he leaned down, lips finding one nipple, flattening against it and the jewelry there before pressing into the celestial mage with a drawn out groan that was slightly more fevered from the smaller man.

 

Their bodies moved together, the hazed demands from Hestor driving Kaleb as sweat beaded off their skin, the smaller writhing and letting out choked sounds, even as the mindbender carefully cut off his breath and then let the other have air. The scream that tore from Hestor as his body finally gave way to pleasure resounded through the air as kaleb was torn over with his mate, gasping and panting. 

 

When the two men finally caught their breaths, Hestor grinned as he lay there, hands above his head and tangled in the fabric. Kaleb let out a low growl as he looked at the other. The pale skin showed off each mark he’d put on the other. He groaned as he looked at the celestial Mage and then leaned over, kissing a few of the marks that he’d bitten and sucked into existence on the man’s neck.

 

_ “Mm, we’ll have to go back soon,” _ Hestor purred through their bond and Kaleb lifted himself enough to gently kiss the other man, acknowledging what he was saying, but almost hellbent on drawing their time out.

 

~)~)~)~)

 

The two were chuckling and kissing as they wandered back into the main guildhall again and the look of utter contentment on the celestial mage’s features had Vander arching an eyebrow “well, damn someone got laid.”

 

Lucy chuckled as she leaned over his and Zen’s shoulder, the two playing a board game and she watched the two, “I don’t know. Kind of reminds me of myself after you two get done with me and i’ve recovered enough to venture out.”

 

Both men chuckled as she gave both light kisses, “I think that Throughly fucked looks good on Hes.”

 

Zen snorted and nipped at Lucy’s neck, “behave. A little longer.”

 

There were a few cheers as the couple moved across the hall, Hestor leaning against kaleb and looking far more relaxed and content than anyone had seen them. His eyes met a pair of aquamarine one across the hall and his fingers curled up an he drug Kaleb into a kiss to more cheers. Kaleb felt the sudden pang of longing and loss, but Hestor was demanding all his attention.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> it appears that Hestor is dealing much better with his 'condition' now, not to say that there won't be issues, but the Immaculate light lays it all bare and Hestor knows where he stands....and he's having a bit too much fun with their bond and magic.


	10. Stellan New Year

Thane almost liked Hestor as much as if he were a brother. The Celestial mage made Kaleb take breaks and would stride into meetings that went over without a care. After the first time Kaleb had tried to protest, the Celestial Mage had shown up from then on in Ivory leather pants, black boots and a half open silk shirt of deep blue with what looked like a sea of light blue stars on it.

 

That had been enough to lure the mindbender into a break just by looking at him. Thane had to hand it to Hestor, the man knew how to handle Kaleb and get the mindbender to do what he wished him to do. The man had also never seen the guildmaster so relaxed and rested, so he wasn’t sure how the Celestial mage was pulling that off, given Kaleb’s schedule hadn’t changed enough for more sleep.

 

The celestial mage seemed a bit distracted, between what had happened in a short span of time and a good portion of the family going back to Fiore, the man seemed semi-listless. He was constantly looking through things as if he were missing something, but hummed softly when he found nothing missing. It was amusing because the man pursed his lips halfway through doing it and let out a sigh.

 

 _“You’re going to wear out that throw rug if you keep pacing,”_ Kaleb watched the other man from the doorway, arching an eyebrow.

 

Hestor paused in his thoughts and arched an eyebrow at Kaleb, _“this thing is a decade old. I could probably replace it.”_

 

_“I know of a nice ivory -”_

 

 _“Finish that. I dare you,”_ Hestor pinned the mindbender with an unimpressed look.

 

Kaleb chuckled as he walked into the room and curled his knuckles over Hestor’s cheek, _“rug.”_

 

The silver haired man scowled as he leaned into the touch, letting out a soft sigh as the touch drained the anger out of him, _“asshole.”_

 

The mindbender smiled and drew the other into a kiss, letting it linger as they stood there, _“what’s bothering you?”_

 

 _“Modgud been restless,”_ The celestial mage slowly returned the kiss, letting his hands move and undo Kaleb’s jacket, fingers deftly pulling pins and the like until he was letting his fingers curl over the other man’s chest and over his shoulders.

  


Kaleb let out a low hum as he stood there, then smirked into the kiss, hands grabbing the smaller man’s ass and squeezing, _“do you know why?”_

 

Hestor let out a low moan and leaned against the other a bit more, grinning into the kiss, _“no, not in the least bit.”_

 

 _“Well, we’ll deal with it,”_ Kaleb purred as he stood there and then sighed as both coms from the other room went off. He sighed into a few small kisses, “let’s see what’s going on, hmm?”

 

“I’m going to kill whoever it is,” Hestor let out a low growl as he slowly pulled away and then stalked towards the living room. He snatched up his com and hissed as he answered, “ **what**.”

 

There was a snicker and Hestor let out a soft sound, “baracle. What?”

 

_“You think you and Kaleb could go in our place to the Lunar New Year Celebration?”_

 

“..what. You should be back.”

 

_“About that…”_

 

Hestor looked in abject horror at a picture of a room of folders, “what is that **mess**?!”

 

_“Applications for what will be the new Fiorian council...trust me..Farron’s eye actually twitched, because it all came in after the new year...apparently...Mail issues.”_

 

“..so you’re sending us there, alone,” Hestor gave the woman a rather unimpressed face.

 

_“Cris and Risley’ll be there, too.”_

 

Hestor hissed as he stood there and then sighed as he felt arms wrap around him. They hadn’t really planning on going. The man still quite wary about the family, knowing his origins now.  The altercation when he’d gone on his own to search for the Keys had led him to a run in with the southern branch of the family but with the knowledge he had now, he was even more wary.

 

Kaleb smiled as he took the com, “we’ll make due. though...I think you owe us.” Kaleb gently kissed Hestor’s neck, “I had planned a personal trip.”

 

_“Boo. fine. If I wasn’t nearly killed with paperwork, I’d go...but we have to get through this.”_

  
  


~(~(~(~(~

 

Hestor slowly sipped his coffee, “I think she did it on purpose.”

 

Kaleb chuckled softly and shook his head, “I don’t think she went into labor early just to not go on this trip, Hes.”

 

The Celestial Mage gave the mindbender a harsh look, “oh? You don’t? I do.”

 

“You’re being paranoid,” Kaleb watched the silver haired man in amusement as he relaxed with the other man, “just like the twins couldn’t choose when they-”

 

Hestor growled, “She did it on purpose.” the man was more prickly than normal as he got out of the hottub and huffed as he dried off. “Cristoff’s dragon is holed up for the next week with the two of them.”

 

Kaleb shook his head, watching Hestor, “Risley couldn’t help it.” he paused, “but there’s something else, isn’t there?”

 

“I have ten keys...that have **always** been kept in the southern temple of Anubis,” Hestor looked at Kaleb, “I don’t know how they’re going to react, I don’t know how the Xings are going to react….”

 

The mindbender was glad the man at least let down the walls in private, “and you think they may try something.”

 

“They did once, already,” Hestor gave a faint smile.

 

“When,” Kaleb’s voice was cold as he stood, moving to dry off as well.

 

Steel blue eyes rolled, “during that first search.” he sighed faintly, “really, I don’t...think the main family knew at the time…..” he moved to look at the clothing set out by thane and arched an eyebrow at the ivory pants and vest, but shrugged as he put them on with the deep blue shirt. The man sighed, “i’ll be fine, I just needed to vent a bit of panic.” he smiled faintly.

 

“Well, you’re coming home with me, so...don’t panic,” kaleb gently kissed the other, fingers doing up the vest deftly.

 

~)~)~)~)~)~)~

  


Hestor bowed to Li as they got up the stairs, “I apologize for the lack of Lucy, she had pressing matters that she can’t get away from of national importance and Cristoff cannot travel with a newborn.”

 

The woman looked at the couple for a moment and Kaleb watched her, waiting as her surface thoughts held disappointment that was pushed aside as she returned the bow, “I see...well things cannot be helped.” She looked at Kaleb for a moment, “welcome, Mister…?”

 

“Master Kaleb Pradesh, of White Sea, my promised,” Hestor said, watching the woman with sharp eyes.

 

Li looked a bit shocked but smiled as she lead them through the halls, “I see. Promised, Master Kedanza, that must be quite the tale.”

 

Hestor made a bland face at her back as they walked, then smiled faintly as he felt a warm hand take his own before he squeezed it, “It was a journey, yes.”

 

The woman’s lips curled faintly, “I should like to hear it.”

 

Hestor took a breath, “Celestial Issues.”

 

The woman arched an eyebrow as she walked, “well, that’s one way to keep quiet about it.”

 

“It is also the basis for all of it,” Hestor said, voice even, despite the anxiety this trip was trailing through him.

 

When they stopped in front of a door, the woman smiled, a tense smile, “I should like to privately speak to you, Master Kendanza, no offense Master kaleb, but…”

 

“He knows,” Hestor said firmly as he stood there, taking a breath and slowly letting it out.

 

Li’s lips drew into a thin line, “it is family business, not Celestial Realm business.” she held up a hand, “you are not married yet, Master Kedanza, our laws are quite firm on only actual partners by marriage.”

 

Kaleb’s eyes narrowed and he heard a hissed ‘don’t’ across his mind from Hestor. The mindbender wondered why the other wasn’t saying anything about their mating, but it seemed the Celestial mage was pulling things very close and refusing to give out too much information. “I see. After the Summer Solstice I will have answers then.”

 

 _“You can listen in through me,”_ Hestor turned and gently drew Kaleb into a kiss, tugging just a little bit at the platinum hair. He grinned as the other deepened the kiss, knowing the mindbender was actually showing claim, and he let it be, _“and I don’t want her to know about the archangel magic yet.”_

 

 _“Why?”_ Kaleb let out a low sound into the kiss, wrapping his arms around the other and deepening the kiss as his fingers curled into the hair at the base of Hestor’s neck and tugging, causing the smaller man to moan and his tongue dove in skillfully.

 

 _“Trust. Right now I’m unsure I can trust them, they may have some sort of debt to Barnacle, but me?”_ Hestor mentally snorted, even as a low moan bubbled up his throat and he shuddered.

 

Kaleb let out a low growl into the kiss and pressed the other against the wall next to the door, pulling back and grinning at the flushed state of the other man as he kept the other pinned against the wall, _“you will be coming home with me. One way or another.”_

 

Hestor took a few shuddering breaths as he looked up at the other through hazy eyes, “mmm.”

 

“Mine,” Kaleb growled, tone possessive as he leaned down, nipping at the Celestial Mage’s ear.

 

Li cleared her throat and smirked as she stood there, crossing her arms and arching an eyebrow, “I get it, Master Kaleb, I just wish to talk.”

 

~(~((~(~(~(~((~

 

Hestor stood, fingers lightly curling over the petals of a rose that shimmered with many colors, if he was honest, he could almost see his fingers through the petals. One thing he had to admit was that they were beautiful. He heard the movements behind him as the table with tea was set up and he could also feel the comfort of Kaleb in his head, knowing the man was there and ‘listening’. He moved away from the flowers and to the table, looking at the woman and just staring.

 

“I will start by saying...your mother **could** be brought back to the Temple of Anubis,” Li stared at him as she slowly put honey in her tea, stirring it as she sat there, then held up a hand at his sharp look, “but...we won’t.” The woman pursed her lips, “I can sense the keys.”

 

Hestor felt his wariness rise as he slowly made his own cup of tea, “oh?”

 

“I’ve also felt the Hall open multiple times,” her voice was firm, “meaning you have invoked it.”

 

Hestor pursed his lips and brought the cup to his mouth slowly sipping it and keeping as calm as he could, “no.”

 

Li’s eyebrows shot up, “so all three times you did not?”

 

Hestor shook his head, “no, all three times…”

 

The woman let out a soft breath as she sat there, “I see...so your friends and promised should see why we keep the Key to the Hall in a protected Temple.”

 

“I will not be locked up like my mother, aunts and uncles were,” Hestor said firmly, “they got to take a single trip a year out of the temple…”

 

Li let out a soft sigh and nodded, “and we thought them lost….”

 

Hestor made a noncommittal sound as he sat there, watching the woman, “So?”

 

“I could invoke ancient Stellan Laws to make you stay,” The woman watched him across the table, features holding nothing.

 

Hestor knew this was a test of wills, he could see it in Li’s eyes, “Bosco would not let it stand.”

 

“Those laws would point out that your mother was a Stellan Citizen Kept in Bosco.”

 

“White Sea would not allow it.”

 

“It is a mage guild, an old and well established one, Yes, but a Mage Guild.”

 

“A guild that Lucy is part of,” Hestor internally grinned in a sharklike manner as the woman paused.

 

Li took a slow breath through her nose, “I see...It...can’t be helped then….”

 

“It can’t,” Hestor stared at her, “is there anything else, Lady Li? I should very much like to go spend the evening with my promised.”

 

“I can’t...persuade you in anyway to stay?”

 

Hestor put the cup down and stood, “...I’ve fought too hard for what I have, fought against spirits, fought against my own darkness...I would die before I gave it up…” he spoke softly, “and I’ve clawed my way back from Charon to be with that man, I will fight Charon for my soul as long as he tries to claim it to be with him.”

 

He turned and pushed the chair in before striding away from the table, not seeing the look on the woman’s face. Li looked confused but her lips were pursed as she sat there, tapping a finger lightly against her tea cup.

  
  


~)~))~~

 

“Sister?” Xiao frowned as he watched Li over books, flipping through pages, “what has to obsessed?”

 

Li looked up sharply at her brother, “...his words during our talk. He made it almost sound like….Charon is at his back and waiting for the right moment.”

 

“Mm,” Xiao shrugged as he moved to pick up a book, “and…?”

 

“That means he had to have died at one point,” Li scowled, “but here he is...how did he live? When did he die? I need to know.”

 

“Yes, Sister Dear,” The man put a book down and then kissed her lightly, “but come, rest tonight, none shall sleep tomorrow.”

 

~)~)~)~))~

  


Kaleb watched Hestor as the celestial mage half clung to him in his sleep. If he understood the conversation correctly, Li Xing was a dangerous woman, perhaps not physically, but because she had the laws of Stella behind her. He was damn sure she knew them inside and out if part of their family was allowed to keep generation after generation of people essentially captive and to the wills of the Xing family.

 

She didn’t feel evil, she didn’t come off as evil and if Kaleb was honest, she was just dutiful to the purpose of the family itself and he could admire that. Mostly. He wasn’t thrilled that the woman had been trying to get Hestor to be locked up, but it seems like the man had at least, partially put her in line.

 

He kissed the top of Hestor’s head as the man shifted in his sleep, almost as if trying to get closer. He reached out, mentally soothing the Celestial Mage and sighing as he settled. The mindbender looked out the window at the moon and watched it quietly as his hand slowly ran along his mate’s back. He wasn’t afraid of losing him, Kaleb knew he wouldn’t lose Hestor to this woman. Charon, however, he would go toe to toe with this Death God as often as needed to make sure the being backed off.

 

Hestor let out a low moan in his sleep that tore lavender eyes of the moon and Kaleb realized he’d been subconsciously sending magic through their bond, watching at the light glow curled through the man’s magical pathways and he saw healing still going on. It had been almost a year, but it seemed that there was still damage from what Hisui did. He took a breath, wondering if **that** was why Charon wouldn’t leave Hestor alone.


	11. Books and Bows

Hestor seemed to be a bit more at ease the next day, but Kaleb could almost feel the damage still in the other’s magical pathways and he mused on it, not paying attention as the early morning brought seamstresses there to measure him. He finally arched an eyebrow as Hestor looked at some fur trimmed vests on a rack thoughtfully and then held one out that was ivory with a blondish fur that was a few shades darker than his hair.

 

“This one for him,” The Celestial mage arched an eyebrow as he looked at Kaleb,  _ “what? You’ve been staring all morning…” _

 

_ “Just admiring.” _

 

Hestor rolled his eyes and then grabbed a light gray vest with silver fox fur on it, shrugging into it and then moving to the rack of pants,  _ “they’ll have some things adjusted for you shortly..” _

 

_ “Is there any reason they didn’t take off my shirt to measure?” _

 

_ “I’ll give you one guess...and it’s a pretty mark on your back that I don’t even want to share with your family but must.” _ Hestor ran a hand through his hair before he found a pair of pants to match the vest and moved to get a pair of boots from the corner he’d put his things.

 

“That is an amazing tattoo,” came a male voice from the doorway, causing Hestor to turn and arch an eyebrow. The man watched Xiao Xing as he brought in a few rolls of fabric, setting them on the bed for the seamstresses, “I was not aware you were the type..for that or piercings, cousin.”

 

“Tat…” Hestor trailed off then mentally cursed as he stood there. There was very little way to explain a set of angel wings over his heart. He himself could feel the bit of magic from it and he knew damn well the man did. “...why not? tattoos are completely normal for Boscans.”

 

Xiao titled his head a bit as he stood there, “it’s magical, and pulses with holy magic.” His features were calm as he straightened the fur pelts on the bed, “I’ve seen it before.”

 

“Oh?” Hestor was on edge as he stood there, doing the math in his head on which spirits he had that could quickly clean out the room and get them out of there.

 

“Mistress Lucy.”  the man’s dual colored eyes looked at Hestor for a moment, “after her mating to the archangel named Zen, her mark faded greatly which I will guess has something to do with the marks on her arms.”

 

“Perhaps a magical tattoo is just a magical tattoo.”

 

Xiao smiled, “or perhaps your promised is an archangel.” 

 

Hestor opened his mouth and shut it a few times before he snapped, “and?”

 

“And what? I am happy for you,” the man arched an eyebrow as he stood there and then picked up a pelt. He let his fingers curl through it. The man turned and started out, handing the fur over, “make some boots lined with that for our cousin.”   
  
“I think the feathers are out of the bag,” Kaleb said then chuckled at the cross look from hestor, “what?”

 

Hestor scowled, “really?” he shook his head, “and you lot give Barnacle and me grief over quotes from shows.”

 

~)~))~)~)~)~

 

Kaleb had to admit that the Stellan Lunar New Year was a party, but nothing of the scope that came from the New Year in Bosco...at least until the evening came and the city was lit only by the soft light that came from the walls of the buildings, large fires that blazed, the stars and the moon. There was dancing as music and laughter that filled the air.

 

The temple was calmer than the city itself, but the sounds did filter into it as he settled in the large seating area with Hestor. Li had been strangely avoiding Hestor and Xiao looked almost amused at his sisters antics, but he’d dropped off some books.

 

“So do they really sit around and read?”

 

Hestor chuckled softly, “The last one cris started an orgy.” Hestor smiled warmly.   
  
Xiao put a tray of tea, biscuits and honey down, “an hour before midnight it becomes a time for lovers. It is why you hear the music dying down. The children will be around large fire pits, with stories being told by the elders so that they will learn from the past and move to begin something new and better for the new year, while new or old couples take this time to re-acquaint themselves with one another, renew their bonds...or form new ones in the case of young lovers.” 

 

Kaleb looked at the man, “I see...and tomorrow?”

 

“We will have a hunt...they slept through it last year,” The man chuckled, “we take horses and bows out into the plains, along with our Falcons.”

 

Hestor blinked slowly, “i’ve never shot a bow in my life. I’m a diver.”

 

Xiao chuckled, “that would be the winter festival then. Don’t worry, there will be plenty of us...no one will say anything if you can’t-”

 

“I need a bow, now.”

 

Kaleb chuckled softly, “you can practice over the next year.” he kissed the side of Hestor’s head as he pouted. The touch sending a flicker across the celestial mage and he could see the extensive damage to his magical pathways, “but I think it’s best if we do not participate.”

 

Xiao titled his head and nodded, “as you wish, the offer is there if you two are up in time.” he stood, “I shall leave you two be, and do not worry, the Priests and Priestesses have all gone to the city for the evening. I was dropping some food off before Sister and I went to the town celebration.” He paused as he stood, “...I will make sure that she realizes what little plans she may have would end poorly for the family.”

 

Hestor eyed the man almost warily, “alright.”

 

Xiao smiled softly and pat the books he brought, “These might help you.”   
  


Hestor went to ask what the book was, but the man was standing and striding away. The Celestial mage let out a low growl and sighed as he leaned against kaleb, “fucking weirdos.”

 

Kaleb chuckled and shook his head, deciding to soothe his mate as best he could...starting with the honey on the tray. He could tell that Xiao had no ill will, the man not shielding his mind in anyway. While Li had plans, he seemed more intent on making sure she didn’t go too far.

 

~)~)~)~))~)~

 

Kaleb had half woken to feeling his magic curling through the bond again. Dawn was still a few hours off and he could see the mark on hestor’s chest gently glowing as his fingers lightly rest against it. His brow furrowed as he tried to think what was going on, but nothing came to mind as he watched the magic thread through Hestor’s magical pathways and he swore he felt tiny cracks in the man’s magical containers start to mend even more.

 

The mindbender sat there for a moment and then slowly looked towards the book that was illuminated in the moonlight. It was the last one that had been brought and he picked it up before shifting the other a bit closer to him and letting Hestor curl into his side. He smiled as he decided to read, knowing he would be tired, but that was fine, they weren’t expected to take part in the hunt.

 

He slowly looked through the book, but the language didn’t seem like anything he had ever learned before. The diagrams were easy to figure out, seeing drawings of wings as well as mathematical formulae, that helped and that he knew, filing it away. Eventually he found a picture that looked like the Encan practice of Chakra, but with no notations. His brow furrowed as he saw that half of the lines were much sketchier than others. 

 

The man looked at his sleeping mate, seeing how some of the pathways close to the point he was touching were almost completely healed and he wondered. Zen could heal, there was a decent chance he could as well. He didn’t want to push the magic hard into Hestor, but he could feel it slowly soothing out into the silver haired man. Each small wave only healing a tiny bit more of the damage, but his calculations said that..it would take months at the rate it was going.

 

~)~)~)~))~~

 

Li looked at the two and then bowed, “I apologize for my words the other night.”   
  
Xiao watched his sister, arms folded neatly in front of him as he waited for her to continue.

 

The woman’s lips were a thin line, “I..often forget myself when I get focused on family business and it was a large disservice to you, cousin.” she shifted slightly, “I cannot ask forgiveness as my words were harsh and uncaring about your situation.”

 

Hestor watched the woman for a long moment, “never bring it up again. The Hall goes where I go, it is no longer bound to a temple, our family...yes, but not the temple.”

 

“I understand, I hope that you two will both return after your marriage, so that the family can celebrate the occasion….”

 

Hestor ground his teeth, knowing what Lucy would do, knowing what he wanted to say but he took a cleansing breath, “we shall see what we have to do and if we are able, we will…but it will not be until late summer, at earliest...” Li looked at him curiously and Hestor mumbled, “Grandmaster Games..”

 

Kaleb snorted and shook his head. The woman was at least hopeful he’d spend time at the Temple of Anubis regularly, and the argument he’d seen between her and her brother gave him  hope, with Xiao saying that the One Magic had bonded them and doing so would bring wrath down upon their heads. “He doesn’t get to show off lost spells is what he means.”

 

Xiao chuckled softly, “well, he is probably the first in many generations to be a fighter from our family. So it is likely a Pride issue.” the man motioned with a hand and two younger members came over, “A bow for you to practice with….and a few books that you may find interesting.”

 

Hestor let out a sound, but eyed them both warily, “Alright…”

 

“No catch,” Xiao smiled softly, “I promise, cousin.”

 

The two nodded before they started away and it was only after the new year’s feast that Kaleb realized  **why** Hestor ripped Stellan cooking up and down when one came to White Sea. True Stellan food was rich and comforting, yet the freshness was also there, everything crisp and perfectly melded together in sauces or buns that just had one’s mouth watering to have one more bite...even if you were full. It was also made by everyone, with light singing, meal time and leading up to it was a family affair.

 

It also had nothing to do with the fact that there were many people around large ovens, working on what he could only call flatbread with intricate designs on them: knots, animals, flowers, just to name a few. Hestor had joined in, since they’d gotten up too late to go on the hunt and Kaleb thought back to the few times that Hestor had made Stellan food, it wasn’t quite the same the herbs were slightly different, but he also realized that it was probably half because of where he’d grown up. Ming had, most likely, adapted how to make the food with what was on hand.In Fact, if kaleb was honest, Hestor had been taking in what had been used in the food and making a mental note of it for the future.

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

  
  
  


Walking to the Boscan border was more of a break for the two of them, Kaleb knew they could have taken an airship back, but between the nagging feeling at the edge of his consciousness and the fact that Hestor needed to blow off some frustration, walking until they got to a border town was better.

 

Kaleb frowned as he saw snow, “...is there supposed to be snow?”   
  
Hestor tilted his head as they walked, “no, not at all. We’re a bit far down the mountains.”

 

The mindbender pursed his lips as he stood there, “...there’s…” his eyes narrowed as he stared down a path, “a...Key that wa-” he blinked as his mate was gone, “HES!”

 

“KEY!” The celestial mage called over his shoulder, “I’ll be fine!”

 

Kaleb ran a hand down his face and then jogged after the overly excited man. He’d never truly seen the man when he’d been hunting keys and it was almost comical how light he could be. The sudden panic from the man had Kaleb reaching through their bond and yanking as hard as he could. He truly expected to be taken to hestor, not the other way around. He had to admit, having a sudden armful of prickly celestial Mage was a decent change from normal.

 

He wanted to ask what had the man shaken, but the wolf howl was all he needed to know. Since the night terrors started, he’d had an irrational fear of wolves. He’d even had a panic attack when Beck had reached out to wolves in the middle of battle. He held the man and listened around them as he slowly lead the other man down the path, “ready to be more cautious now?”

 

Hestor mumbled into kaleb’s chest, “shut up.”

 

Kaleb kissed the top of the man’s head as they walked, “mmhmm.”

 

The two stopped when a flaming arrow landed in front of them and ice spread from it. Instinctively, Kaleb’s wings were out and he was snapping them, arm around Hestor to keep him off the ground and watching the ice flow.

 

“Interesting,” Came a cold, feminine voice, that just made both men think of a barren land, “it’s been...a long time since I’ve seen an archangel.”

  
  
  
  


**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Xiao may have decided that Li pushed a bit much and cleared the temple out. he's not as...focused on things like his sister, much more content to watch the ebb and flow of magic without worrying much.


	12. Skadi, The Huntress

The two mages looked around, Hestor shifting only a bit so that he had an arm around Kaleb’s shoulder to help stabilize himself as his eyes narrowed, “who are you”

 

A woman with red and white hair, mostly hidden beneath a wolf pelt stepped around the trees, looking up at the two. She looked up at them with slate eyes and arched an eyebrow as she held a bow in one hand. Her clothing was heavy, pants, boots, a heavy brocade shirt beneath the pelt cloak and she just stared up at them as she stood there, “depends on who is asking.”   
  
“My mate,” Kaleb narrowed his eyes on the woman, “Skadi.”

 

The woman clicked her tongue as she watched the two, crossing her hands to hold the bow that, as they got a better look at it, seemed to be made of elk horn, “I see.”

 

“You have a bow,” Hestor decided to see if they could...settle things calmly and he could hear Modgud letting out a curious sound, but ignored the spirit.

 

Skadi slowly arched one eyebrow and looked at Kaleb, “Is he always…?”

 

Kaleb shook his head, “No, he just wishes to learn to use one right now.”

 

“Mm, I see,” she eyed both of them, “I’d offer a test…” she nodded towards the arrow that had gone out and the slowly receding ice, “but you two seem to have gotten past the first difficulty.” her lips curled into a cold smile as pure white wolves seemed to come out of the trees, eyes dancing a bit as Hestor clung a bit more to the taller man. “I can feel one of the Bifrost with you. Can you find my key? One of my pets has it. In their mouths.” 

 

Kaleb gave the spirit a deadpan look, “that won’t be ha-”

 

“You’re not allowed to help him,” The spirit looked at Kaleb, “if he wants my key...he has to get it himself.”

 

Hestor took a shuddering breath and nodded slightly, tugging the other’s collar to let him know to land. He didn’t say anything as his feet settled onto the ground and he looked at the wolves. He could feel the panic rising and swallowed, voice hoarse, “fine.”

 

Kaleb gave Hestor’s hand a small squeeze, “you can do this.” it was more than finding the key, it was also facing this fear. Even though he wanted nothing more to do than to walk over and punch the spirit, this was cruel, even for some of the spirits he’d heard of.

 

The Celestial Mage let out a low sound and nodded as he slowly walked towards the wolves, stiffening a bit as they started to pace around him. He took a few deep breaths, looking at each and trying to figure out how he was going to chose one, just letting his senses slowly curl out. Like with Modgud, each had that  **feel** that there was a key, he had to find the right one though. He didn’t know the spirit and it looked like the wolves would attack at any moment.

He watched them all as they circled, his anxiety rising as he tried to figure out which of the white wolves was different and keep his breathing even. It was just out of the corner of his eye that he saw it and he was spinning. They all had pale eyes, but one had brown, not blue. He probably wouldn’t have seen it if he hadn’t been too focused on what was in front of him. With a swallow and a deep breath, he started towards the wolf of his choice and they all sat as one.

 

“If this is the wrong one?” he could feel his body trying to flee. 

 

“You lose your hand,” Skadi said, just watching. She could feel the anxiety as the mage hesitated for a moment, “second thoughts?”

 

It was the whispers at the back of his head from Kek-t that kept him from fleeing at first and then when Abraxis’ voice calling him a ‘chicken shit’ came through, he took a breath through his nose and steeled his resolve.

 

The Mindbender’s eyebrows shot up as he sharply looked at Hestor. He vowed that he’d be having a talk with that spirit later. That wasn’t even comical. Yes, it got Hestor to do what he needed to do, but the man wasn’t afraid for no reason at all.

 

Hestor wasn’t second guessing himself but the thought of losing a hand was not a pleasant one and he moved to put his hand in the wolf’s mouth. He let out a hiss as he felt the jaws clamp, teeth digging in hard enough that they almost broke the skin, and then curled his fingers around the creature’s tongue until he felt the key and squeezed.

 

The woman started to slowly clap, “good, good.” a wind came through, cold and blood chilling and the wolves seemed to dissolve into snow that carried away. Her lips were curled into an icy smile “you’ll learn more and more…” her voice became deadly, “because I won’t tolerate my holder to not know how to hunt.” her lips curled “and Loki will eventually love doing your nails.” she let out a laugh before disappearing in the same manner as the wolves.

 

“...not a word,” Hestor looked at Kaleb, the look on his face showing that he  **knew** spirits were weird.

 

“Oh, there will be words, because of what the one said to you.” Kaleb glowered as he stood there.

 

Hestor let out a soft sigh, “let it be. For now. let’s...go home, please?”

  
  
  
  


~)~))~)~)~)~

  
  


Kaleb had decided to attempt to fly all the way back to White Sea and he’d done fairly well. Hestor had only snapped a few times when he’d caught an updraft that had yanked them up and back. He had to admit the Celestial mage clinging to him and wrapping his legs around him was well worth the problem..

 

When they landed, the celestial mage was half grumbling as he walked into their suite and fell face first onto the bed. 

  
  


“It wasn’t that bad,” Kaleb watched the man in amusement as he walked over, “I didn’t even land badly.”

 

Hestor lay there for a long moment, “it’s my nerves.” he slowly shifted and rolled onto his back to look up at Kaleb, taking a deep breath, “right now…” he sighed “I nearly ran, nearly said fuck it.” he sighed as he draped an arm over his eyes.

 

“And what your spirit said was out of line,” Kaleb glowered as he gently brushed his hand through the silver hair, “we both know it.”

 

Hestor snorted softly, “it was a bit out of-”

 

“A bit?” Kaleb’s tone was hard, “more than a bit.”

 

“I am used to them being harsh,” Hestor said as he slowly let his arm fall, looking up at the mindbender, “I’ve worked hard, but when push comes to shove...sometimes I doubt.”

 

“It’s not their place to push you,” kaleb scowled as he leaned over the other man, “I won’t have it.”

 

“Oh,  _ hero, _ ” Hestor looked at the other in amusement and then leaned up, lightly kissing him. “Let it be for now.”

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

 

There was half crazy, half humored laughter that echoed through the pathways of the Spirit world. A man with long black hair watched as what looked like a woman that was half skeleton was chasing after a woman with dark hair that just glinted green in the light. Her dress was barley that, the skirt dipping low and the top barely covering anything at all. 

 

“You  **can’t** change out our keys, Idunn!”

 

The woman, Idunn, continued to laugh, “I did, Hel! He smells like apples! I want him!” she let out a cackle as she dodged the other female, eyes that were pitch black dancing with glee, “only nine are allowed in the mortal realms...just because you have never been challenged means nothing!”

 

The man watched the two as they continued their game of cat and mouse and he didn’t look up, “Leon, it has been awhile”

 

The ginger haired spirit sat down and snorted, “hardly long enough, it seems, oh brother mine.”

 

“You’re adopted, or I’m adopted, one way or the other,” Loki said as he continued to watch the two women ‘fight’. He knew there was no heat there, it was more that Idunn had changed out the keys without telling anyone. “What brings you to our corner of the celestial realms?”

 

“Lucy was thinking about finding the ivory keys,” Leon got himself a mug of ale and sat back watching the two women.

 

“Ah, a good choice for her, or her offspring. Either would be good,” Loki smiled faintly as he sat there, “there is more.”

 

“There is always more, brother mine,” Leon grinned, “a few of us are going for drinks tomorrow…”

 

Loki rolled his eye, though he had a good natured smile on his lips, “I take it his majesty will be going?”

 

“Mmhmm,” Leon looked at the other man out of the corner of his eye.

 

The dark haired man slowly grinned, eyes crinkling and he looked almost insane, “good...three months on Earthland until then...and another month and a half to get him to find one of the keys. Very good.”

 

Leon finished his drink quickly, pattng the smaller spirit on the shoulder, “A shame you won’t make it...I did tell them that though.”

 

Loki watched Leon walk away and then sipped his coffee, “perfect...who shall he find next..”

 

~)~)~)~)~)~)~)~

  
  


Archery, Hestor was coming to learn, was hard...and it stung his arm like he wouldn’t believe, even with the arm guard. His aim sucked as well. It also didn’t help that Skadi found it necessary to lounge with two of her wolves half the time...or if she wasn’t doing that, she was deliberately attempting to make him miss by tapping his body and making him jerk. Oh, Stars forbid he made a comment she didn’t like. He’d laughed quite a few times about how Capricorn ‘trained’ Lucy...now he had his own taskmaster that was worse than he could think. In three weeks, he’d just gotten to the point that he could hit the target.

 

Skadi stared at the target and then slowly her head rolled and her eyes zeroed in on Hestor. She said nothing but pointed at the few arrows that managed to it the thing, but only on the outer ring.

 

“I  **know** ,” Hestor growled, “my fingers hurt, my arms hurt, My shoulders ache in a way I didn’t think was poss-” 

 

Skadi shut him up with a cold look that sent shivers down his spine, “this is atrocious.”

 

Hestor groaned, “i’m a  **diver** not a  **hunter** .”

 

“You will learn to be a hunter,” Skadi stared him down, features barren of emotion.

 

At that moment, he leaned to the side, watching as Kaleb spoke yet again to Abraxis. In Fact, every day over the past week the mindbender had been talking to the spirit and by the barely contained fury that he felt from the man, it rarely went well. Spirits were as they were, yes, some could be harsh, some could be quirky, that was how they could be.

 

Hestor let out a sound as his foot was hooked and he was on his back, staring up at an arrow to his face. He groaned, “i get it...back to practice.”

 

“Correct, on your feet,” Skadi simply turned the bow and let the arrow fly, smirking as Abraxis let out a curse and was encased in ice.

 

“I was talking to him!” Kaleb called out, tone exasperated. 

 

Skadi slowly turned her head, “you were distracting this one.” she looked Kaleb up and down for a moment, “though I can easily see why.” at a low growl from Hestor she rolled her eyes, “Oh, stop. He is not my type...too much fire. Literally.” she arched an eyebrow, “archangel, remember?”

 

Hestor got a deadpan look on his face, “that does not mean I enjoy seeing you eyefu-”

 

“I was appreciating how he looks, it is a crime to not do so,” The spirit looked at Hestor and shook her head, “I have many that I have bedded over the eons. That idiot that is now frozen one of them.”

 

Hestor let out a low sound, “i’m not sure I wish to know…”

 

Skadi chuckled, “he’s fairly good in bed, his reputation is almost as bad as Leo’s though. So it’s a rare thing. Alkaid is more my type of lover.” she grinned, “big, likes fur...plenty of muscles and enjoys cuddling.”

 

Everyone heard to helpless sound that Hestor made as he put his face in his hands. He really didn’t need to know the sexual dynamics of keys right now. He could learn that later and he swore the female spirit was doing it on purpose, “training?”

 

“Ah, right…” she turned a dark and icy smile on hestor, “let’s continue. We will discuss keys that you will be hunting down soon enough.”

  
  


~)~)~)~

 

Kaleb slowly thumbed through a book, smiling as he heard Hestor dozing behind him. He looked back to see the man curled up and exhausted. The man had been working more and more with the bow he’d been given and Skadi kept him at it for hours, which lead to early nights for the silver haired mage. The saving grace was that the night terrors didn’t come as often any more. They were more vivid when they did though. 

 

Enough that Kaleb could see the bark on the trees and he was certain it was not there before. Four months until they were married and kaleb was truly looking forward to it and knew Hestor was as well. He stood from his desk and walked over, gently pressing a hand to the man’s chest and letting his magic slowly curl through the connection. At First, there was no change, but as he wove the archangel magic into the flow, he saw the ruined and fixed pathways come to view and sat down. He’d been doing this nightly and while it didn't’ seem like he was getting far, when he’d talked to Cris and shown him during one of Hestor’s naps, the Slayer had narrowed his eyes and started working on theory, the two taking the time to find the right flow to allow the healing to accelerate without either waking the Celestial Mage up, or causing more damage.

 

Pictures of the books from the Xings had been sent to the Academe and Kalperdan had been...giddy, which was putting it mildly. All but the one he was currently looking through was there and the Dean had a team translating them under his very watchful eye.  The tome was, apparently, six hundred years old and Kaleb truly had to wonder exactly what the Xing family had in their library if they’d willingly sent three with the two of them.

 

Instead of the originally thought year, after learning what flow would be best, the damage would be done a few weeks before their wedding. He wouldn’t have to worry about Charon at that point, at least he hoped he damn well didn’t have to...unless it was tied to the Wolf. Then he’d simply have to make sure the being was well and gone after that point.he refused to allow the being to haunt hestor any more.

 

When the silver haired man shifted, kaleb smiled and pulled his hand back, feeling the man slowly waking up. He sat on the edge of the seat and gently brought his hand up, running it through the silver hair, “hey.”

 

The Steel blue eyes slowly fluttered before opening and Hestor brought a hand to his mouth, yawning and mumbling “hey.” his eyes trailed to the window “sun’s going down.”

 

“Time for you to get to an actual bed,” Kaleb smiled, “after a nice soak.”

 

Hestor’s hand came up, curling around kaleb’s neck as he half sat up, “only if you come with me.”

 

The mindbender chuckled and dipped his head down, murmuring before kissing the other man, “deal.”


	13. A Simple Game of Wits

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> From the last "~)~)~)~" marker on, it gets a wee bit steamy....read at your own risk

Either Skadi had drug Modgud into the training, or the spirit herself had. Kaleb didn’t know, but the last few weeks had training sessions ending within hours as Hestor collapsed, breath harsh and cold puffs of breath leaving him, despite it being spring and warming. Ma’at had stopped Kaleb from going to his mate quite a few times, the yellow eyes pinning him with a look.

 

The mindbender knew the spirit was one of judgement, but the harsh looking spirit’s eyes changed color. When he was being firm, they were a vibrant yellow that bordered on gold, when he was worried, they softened to a gentle yellow. It was the same with Ammit. The two spirits were rarely far from one another. It was Lethe, however, that made Kaleb wary. He knew the tale of the goddess Lethe and the river that she carried her name from.

 

Hestor’s use of the ten keys in combat was limited to a few and Kaleb could tell it was instinctive.  Though all the sisters ate souls, easily ripping them out of people, there were things about each that were just shrouded, even to the holder unless the knowledge was needed. A Failsafe, Kaleb wondered, because there were many abilities that the man knew the ten keys could do, and others was hazy information in his head.

 

As Hestor gasped and fell to the ground, yet again, he started to move forward, only for Lethe to put a hand on his arm and shake her head. The pale woman’s dark hair slowly swirling around her face as she watched and Kaleb could feel more than hear her voice as her lips moved, _“deep breaths, in, out. Do not forget the basics of life”_

 

“What did you do?” Kaleb shot a dark look down at the female spirit.

 

The deep silver eyes slowly looked up at Kaleb and he could almost feel the want to forget things, important things, before the power snapped back and she shook her head. She turned back to the scene in front of her, watching as her key holder took huge gasps of air and dug his finger into the sand of the training ring.

 

It was Kek-t’s voice that gave him any explanations, “she can’t speak often, or only to a select few mortals, lest she rip the memories from their minds.” she wrapped an arm around her stomach as she stood there, watching hestor, “or make people remember things in vivid clarity. It is her powers that reveal all of the souls’ transgressions...and she is very much not a combat spirit.”

 

“I don’t like this,” Kaleb growled, watching Hestor struggle and he took in a sharp breath as he felt some **thing** there.

 

Hestor let out a snarl as he struggled to his feet and Kaleb flinched at the mental scream of ‘no’ from the Celestial Mage. That was all it took for him to recognize the feeling: Charon.  Lethe’s hand on his arm was somehow keeping him in place and he let out a low growl, it almost felt like his body had suddenly forgotten how to move.

 

“Stop,” Kek-t said softly, “Modgud and Skadi want to make him know this fight. It is inherent to him. He needs to know how to throw that off...for he will have to.” her red eyes slowly slid to Kaleb, “before the Wolf Comes.”

 

Kaleb felt an icy shiver run down his spine at those words. Between the night terrors, the questions, the answers, all of it lead back to a black wolf that hunted his mate in his sleep. He started when he heard Lethe speak again, _“we shall be going now. It is done for the day.”_

 

Skadi narrowed her eyes on Lethe, the huntress’ lips curled back into a snarl before she was swirling away in golden stardust and snow. Modgud let out a faint sigh, hand on her chest before she lightly rapped Hestor on the head with a knuckle, “go rest. You need it...and warm up.”

 

Hestor let out a hiss as he stood there and then Kaleb felt the pang in their bond before he had an armful of mate that was near freezing and curling against him. Hestor didn’t say anything but took in the warmth of the other, almost teasing Kaleb’s power into him to send warmth through his body.

 

“I don’t like that,” Kaleb growled, looking down at the silver head of hair as he let the magic flow and, since Hestor was distracted, pushed a bit more healing through his magical pathways.

 

Hestor let out a low hum as he warmed, half dosing where he stood, “neither do I, but it needs done.”  he brought a hand up, gently running it through Kaleb’s hair.

 

Modgud and Lethe looked at one another for a long moment, as if silently talking before black and golden motes were where Lethe had been and it was as if the spirit was never there.

 

Kaleb stared down the woman, “why are you truly doing this.”

 

Modgud looked at Kek-t for a moment and then back to kaleb, “I control the ice that freezes the body. He will need to be able to move and withstand those levels of cold, for the future. It can also put him close to Charon’s fingers, which he must learn to fight away from.”

 

Kek-t snorted, “what she means to say...is we want him to be able to have a defense against Ice Magic Users.”

 

Kaleb could tell they knew more, but the fact that they weren’t talking made him realize that it was probably events that they **couldn’t** speak of. “And?”

 

Modgud smirked, “by the time we are done, he’ll be able to swim in near frozen waters with little effect.”

 

Hestor arched an eyebrow as he continued to pull warmth from Kaleb, “...please don’t tell me this is all for Iceberg clams.”

 

“...noooooo,” Modgud grinned before she winked and disappeared.

 

Kek-t rolled her eyes as she felt annoyance from Kaleb, “it is to prepare you. For the future. He will need it.” the spirit then swirled away in golden and black motes.

 

Hestor snorted softly, “it’s like talking with my mother.”

 

“Far too cryptic for me.”

 

Hestor looked up at Kaleb and smiled pulling the man down into a kiss, _“such is life. Mother was just as bad.”_

 

_“Speaking of…”_

 

Hestor groaned as he let his head fall to the man’s shoulder, “no.”

 

~)~)~)~)~

 

Hestor looked completely unimpressed as he crossed his arms on his chest. They’d stopped on the way to Eventide Bay to speak to his parents and they’d been walking through the woods. The two had come across a man wearing forest garb and having deep auburn hair. He looked at the two with curious jade eyes and his fingers played with a piece on the chessboard in front of him.

 

As soon as they’d stepped into the clearing, magic had swirled around them and the landscape seemed to drop away into darkness and the clearing was floating above a giant chessboard. “No.”

 

The spirit grinned as he sat there, “do you fear thine mate is not worthy the task, keybearer?”

 

Hestor’s nostrils flared, eyes narrowing and he let out a snarl, “take that back.”

 

“Then..tis a simple task, yes? A game of chess, with the wager being thine life and mine key,” the green eyes danced as he sat at the table with the chessboard, “tis a simple game, yes?”

 

Kaleb put a hand on Hestor’s shoulder as the celestial mage let out another snarl, “Hes.”

 

“It’s not that I don’t trust you,” steel blue eyes looked up into pale lavender, “it’s him I do not trust.”

 

The auburn haired man smirked, “good, not trusting is a good thing, but..I would never go back on a contracted deal.”

 

Hestor let out another growl, even as Kaleb stepped forward, “deal.”

 

“Let us start..” the jade eyes danced as he sat there and magic curled around Hestor, the man letting out a startled sound as he disappeared.

 

“Where did he go!?” Kaleb’s voice rose and then he followed the Spirit’s pointed finger, looking beyond the clearing and seeing a swirl of magic on the chessboard.

 

_“You put me in a dress??!” _

 

Kaleb was trying to not find amusement in the scream of anger, bringing a hand up to his mouth to hide his smirk as he sat down. He looked at the chessboard and noticed that the queen on his side of the board appeared to be throwing a tantrum. In a very pretty silver and blue Fiorian style ballgown. He watched as the small figure ripped what looked like a diamond tiara out of his hair and it clattered with a high pitched tinging sound across the chessboard as a louder clatter of metal over marble rang from below.

 

_“ I feel your amusement!” _ Hestor bellowed from below.

 

Kaleb coughed a few times to try to not laugh, “did you have to?”

 

The spirit looked at Kaleb, looking very innocent, “no, but it’s amusing to me.” the spirit waved a hand, “please, the first move.”

 

Kaleb studied the chessboard as he sat there, focusing on the pieces that weren’t raging in what he assumed was the only square he could be in for the time being. He looked up as he heard a snap of fingers and there was a sand timer, “...how long is that?”

 

“Eight minutes, that should be more than sufficient for each turn,” Bragi leaned back in is seat, smirking.

 

Kaleb waited until Hestor had finally settled down, the man sitting with the skirts puffing up around him. He started the game just as he heard his mate scream, _“stop internally laughing at me!” _

 

The mindbending archangel looked at Bragi “...he can’t...do that yank thing, right?”

 

“Not here, no.”

 

It seemed like a normal chess game, that was simply mirrored below them, until Bragi took the first piece off the board. There was a horrid scraping sound in the air and Kaleb half stood, eyes wide with horror as he saw the ‘piece’ that Bragi had moved…attack and destroy the larger representation of the knight he’d taken.

 

“What the-”

 

Bragi picked up a goblet and sipped from it, “I did say his life or my key, Archangel.” the jade eyes glinted as he grinned, “what did you expect to happen to a ‘dead’ piece in the game?”

 

Kaleb then felt cold as he stood and looked down at the board. He could feel a sudden surge of fear from Hestor and saw that the pieces slowly changed, or some of them, but only the ones down on the larger board. Bragi’s king took on an appearance that he’d only seen through hestor. A man with pale skin and piercing blue eyes, the dark hair swirled around his shoulders and he felt the shudder of his mate. Charon.

 

“Why, why do all of these keys try to kill the mage?” He rounded on Bragi.

 

Bragi motioned to the chess board, “your move.”

 

“Answer me,” Kaleb sat down, fury blazing through him as he thought and half eyed the timer.

 

Bragi watched the man move a piece and moved his own after a moment of study, “our keys only call to those that have Felt the Touch of a Death God.” he leveled a look at Kaleb, “the mage that they call to...must fight against death and live to own the set...and it is also a test for something much larger.”

 

“That’s stupid.”

 

“Those are the rules…” Bragi smirked, “just like your mate is your piece, Charon is mine currently.”

 

Kaleb felt an icy shudder go down his spine but took a deep breath, eyes hardening, “Charon won’t have him.”

 

~)~)~))~)~)~

 

“Are you afraid?”

 

Hestor’s eyes snapped to the ice blue ones across the board and he swallowed. This pale man had been haunting him since Mercurius and seeing him not when he was just mentally above passing out was sending small tremors along his spine. He took a breath, “of death? I’d be stupid not to be.”

 

“Does your other half know, or like most that search for this set, do you hide that fact?”  
  
Hestor would have sworn that the pale skinned, dark haired and blue eyed male was arching an eyebrow. However, he knew it was some sort of impression, the Death God’s features rarely changed from the impassive and detached look “He knows, he’s felt you...and even if I wanted to, I couldn’t hide anything from him.”

 

The celestial mage huffed as he tugged at the gloves, they wouldn’t come off, so now that he’d thrown his fit about what he’d been put in, he was going to embrace it. He’d put the tiara back on after it had appeared at his feet after being thrown as far as he could throw it and he stared across the board at Charon.

 

“Interesting.”

 

Hestor rolled his eyes and brought his hands up, adjusting the tiara, “it is stupid to hide such a thing anyway.”

 

Charon stared at Hestor, “you’re...embracing that outfit.”

 

“I can’t take it off,” Hestor scowled, “so I may as well.” he’d tried ripping it off, only for the fabric to mend itself, so there was no reason to throw more than his initial tantrum at what had happened. He wasn’t going to freak out like a damsel because he wasn’t one, in any sense of the word.

 

Charon snorted as he crossed his arms on his broad chest, not flinching as another of the pieces were destroyed. He arched an eyebrow as the mage teleported across the field onto a piece. The being arching an eyebrow as the piece  shattered and Hestor sniffed slightly before sneezing. “Getting a deadly cold?”

 

“Dust,” Hestor snapped, brushing himself off and looking as regal as he could. He clapped his gloved hands together, smacking the dust off them, “like a cold could kill me. I’ll die of old age.”

 

“You’re mated to an archangel, you’re not dying of old age.”

 

Hestor’s lips curled into a grin, “good, then i’ll look fucking **fabulous** until I die.”

 

Charon looked at the mage for a moment "Bisexual, my ass. flaming gay."

 

“Pleasure is pleasure,” Hestor purred, “why put a label on it?”

 

Charon stood there, impassive as ever, but Hestor almost would say the being would be running his hand down his face in frustration, “...boscans.”

 

~)~)~))~

 

When the Terror had turned to defiance, Kaleb threw himself into the chess match, carefully guarding both his king piece...and using his Queen - the man internally chuckled - to attack anything that was an issue.

 

Bragi let out a low hum as he heard Kaleb, “checkmate.” The spirit had to admit, the man had played well and he truly hadn’t thought that the musclebound oaf would be any good at chess, he was, however, pleasantly rewarded for his doubt.

 

The spirit stood and nodded as he set a key on the chessboard, “as per our deal.” he grinned as magic swirled and Hestor appeared, but not in what he’d been in when they’d come.

 

The Celestial Mage’s eyes slowly narrowed as he looked between the spirit and the archangel, crossing his arms on his chest, “where are my clothes.”

 

“You’re wearing them,” Bragi smirked before they were back in the forest and he was gone.

 

Hestor let out a small sound as he crossed his arms on his chest and then pulled a bag out of his requip. Like hell he was going to stay in the dress.

 

Kaleb watched Hestor and grinned as he let out a purr that made the silver haired man pause. He took a few advancing steps upon his mate and then lunged as the smaller man tried to make a break.

 

“This is not funny! Let me g-” Hestor tried to snarl and spit as his back hit a tree and he was being kissed breathless with one of Kaleb’s hands holding both of his own above his head and the other tearing the skirt of the dress half open, the wire holding the skirt in its shape torn away. _“Kaleb!”_

 

When all he got was lusty feedback and images through their bond, the Celestial mage let out a low whimper of need. The need grew as kaleb’s eyes raked down his body, right down to the fact that he had been **completely** changed, including garters and heels. He’d have to thank Bragi later as his free hand grabbed one of the stocking clad legs and drug it up and over his hip,pressing them together as he dove in for another kiss.

 

Hestor let out a whimper of need as he rolled his hips, grinding as best he could while pinned so awkwardly. His body shuddering as he mentally snarled _“either fuck me or let me change.”_

 

The purring voice along his mind made his eyes roll back _“oh, you’ll change in awhile.”_

 

Hestor was going to reply, but he let out a whine into the kiss as Kaleb pulled back a bit, free hand moving to undo his pants before there was another sharp sound of fabric being torn and he shuddered at the exposure. He wanted to hiss and spit about the bark against his back, but the lust that was flowing through him suddenly had drawn the ire away as he let out gasps and groans while bringing his other leg up and yanking Kaleb’s hips to his own, _“I said fuck me, Kaleb.”_   The mindbender pulled back, chest heaving as he looked down at the other, searching steel blue with slightly glowing lavender, “you’re a fucking morning star, healing should be something you can do. Now if you don-”

 

Kaleb slammed their mouths together with a lusty growl, their bodies joining almost violently and Hestor’s head slammed back with a cry of both pain and hissed pleasure. They moved together hard as they both shuddered. This was not just about how much they needed anything, this was a confirmation that they were both still there and soon both were grunting and gasping, the world around them forgotten.

 

Pain and pleasure mixed in Hestor’s mind and he wasn’t sure how long they were moving together, the sweat trickling across their skin from the strain, or the light bit of blood from the tree bark shredding the back of the dress and finding his skin. He was too wrapped up in feeling Kaleb’s body against his and inside him that nothing else mattered. Time seemed to stretch and when he finally whimpered, the pleasure starting to make his vision spot, the cry that tore from him made his throat raw.

 

Kaleb shuddered as he slowly kelt, letting his head rest against Hestor’s shoulder as he panted and let his body slowly come down.he slowly felt the ache starting to settle into the other’s body and took a breath as he slowly let Hestor’s wrists go and ghosted his hands along the other’s side, feeding the healing magic through the other man’s body and watching his dazed mate let out a small mewl and arch.

 

He grinned languidly as he felt the trembling muscles and pushed the magic through the other man, adding a bit to the damage from Mercurius that Hestor didn’t know about. He took his time, almost willing the physical injuries to go slower than the other healing he was doing, just to make more headway in that. When the last of the physical injuries were taken care of, he gently kissed Hestor.

 

The Celestial mage purred into the kiss, arms shifting to curl around the other, _“i’m still changing.”_

 

_“Keep the stockings...and the tiara.”_ Kaleb couldn’t help but chuckle at the fists that came into his shoulders, but he could tell that Hestor wouldn’t argue...much.

 

Hestor pulled out of the kiss and scowled, “stockings and jewelry?” he gave the other a hard look.

 

Kaleb just arched an eyebrow at his mate, rolling their hips together, “yes.”

 

Hestor eyed the other warily as he let out a low groan and took a shuddering breath. “...fine.” the man then rolled his eyes at the giddy feeling from the mindbender. What had he just agreed to?

 


	14. The Scent of Spiced Apples

Ming slowly looked between her son and kaleb, slowly arching an eyebrow. She supposed he should have thought to wear looser pants if he’d wanted to not let on what he was wearing under them. The Tiara was a cute touch, really brought out his eyes if she was honest and the pale purple shirt was...passable to her sensibilities.

 

Hestor sat there, holding a cup of tea in his hands and staring at her mother while trying to figure out what she was thinking.

 

“You look very...pretty,” Ming slowly brought her drink to her lips, “not as pretty as pearls would look, but pretty enough.”

 

“I was always more fond of shells in his hair,” Kiran said as he set a refilled pot down and carefully lowered himself into his seat. He leaned back, watching the two younger men and waiting as he propped his chin up on one hand. 

 

Kaleb could read amusement from the man and he supposed Kiran was well used to actually dealing with the mother and son duo than he was. Ming was curious and somewhat..prickly around the edges, but it made sense. Kiran was a calm man that seemed to have endless patience and a love for life; Hestor had to get the prickly, over analyzing habits from somewhere and it was very glaringly his mother.

 

“I assume you will be having a Boscan wedding,” The woman slowly sipped her tea.

 

Hestor gave a slow and wary nod, “we will be...I’m not too clear on Stellan weddings.”

 

“It’s a tea ceremony, in front of a priest of one of the temples,” Ming said, “very serene.”

 

Hestor arched an eyebrow, “I am somehow doubtful by how you said that.”

 

Ming waved a hand, “Irrelevant. You obviously came here for a reason.”

 

Hestor gave a shrug and sat back, “eeeeh.” he motioned to Kaleb, “all him.”

 

Kaleb rolled his eyes slightly, “as Hestor is highly disagreeable to many things in the world….” he arched an eyebrow at the sharp look he got from the silver haired man “we’ve come to let you know what day we are getting married. That way you will be able to come.”

 

“I could have much more effortlessly sent a spirit,” Hestor said into his tea and his father rolled his eyes with a soft smile on his lips.

 

“Or said you did,” Kaleb pointed out, arching an eyebrow as he got one from the other man.

 

Kiran chuckled, “he would probably do it when he knew that we would be out.” Hestor opened his mouth, but his father continued, “it is what your mother would do.”

 

Both silver haired people in the room flushed a bit and sipped her tea, pointedly not looking at their other halves. Hestor cleared his throat, “yes, anyway… The summer solstice.”

 

Kiran slowly arched an eyebrow, “interesting choice.”

 

Ming pursed her lips, “a decent one, longest day of the year, marriages on the summer solstice are said to have blessings of prosperity for the future.”

 

“Let’s hope.”

 

Kaleb smiled faintly at the older couple, “we may have some more arguments about colors in rooms but that will be about it.”

 

“Is that why he’s wearing a light shirt?”

 

Hestor scowled, voice hissing, “mother.”

 

Kaleb chuckled softly, not worrying about Hestor’s ire being directed at him. To see the man being so domestic and ‘normal’ as he could see it, was an interesting change from the normal way the man carried himself. “It may be the reason he owns a few lighter shirts, yes.”

 

“Right, message delivered and I would very much like to get going before anyone else realizes we are here,” Hestor said firmly, “I truly do not wish to put up with some people.”

 

Kiran gave another low chuckle, “we will let everyone know of your wedding, I am sure there will be a few broken hearts, but it is what it is.”

 

Hestor’s voice dripped with sarcasm, “poor Melina. Really. I feel for her.”

 

~)~)~)~))~)~

 

They’d just made it out of the village when they heard the cry of heartbreak and Hestor didn’t look back. In fact, if kaleb was honest, his mate walked faster. The man mumbled, “need to get a key that helps with travel.”

 

Kaleb arched an eyebrow as he easily kept pace with the other man, “you don’t have a pegasus key?”

 

“I do, however,” Hestor’s eyes slowly  panned to Kaleb, “I am not riding on pegasus.”

 

“Why?”

 

“Well one, it wouldn’t hold us both-”

 

“I can fly.”

 

“-and two...this tiara makes me look feminine enough as it is.”

 

Kaleb rolled his eyes as he walked, “that won’t work on me as an excuse.”

 

Hestor gave a faint snort, “...it’s also Pegasus’ day off. Which means Monoceros would be the spirit to call…and I’m not riding on a unicorn.”

 

“How about until we get closer to White Sea?” Kaleb arched an eyebrow, “we can make the three day trip down  to one if we do that.”

 

Hestor just scowled at Kaleb as they walked, “is time an issue? I don’t think it is.”   
  
Kaleb debated and then shrugged, “Zen would probably be glad that I’m practicing flying…”

 

The Celestial Mage side eyed the mindbending archangel darkly. He understood the merits behind that excuse and he wasn’t sure he could find much of a counter. He let out a faint sigh and mumbled, “we walk from ten miles out.”

 

Hestor watched as Kaleb took to the sky and mumbled darkly before he called out Monoceros and the spirit looked at him for a long moment. He gave a faint sigh, “go ahead, say it.”

 

_ “Playing princess today?” _

 

The man ground his teeth and hauled himself up onto the back of the unicorn, lightly kicking with his heels, “no.” he paused, “I played Queen.”

 

_ “Drama queen? You’ve got that one down to a science.” _

 

Hestor hung his head, grumbling darkly, “I swear...does every spirit like to take shots at their keyholders?”

 

_ “We do it because we care.” _

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

 

Hestor had been very tempted to yank Kaleb out of the sky as he got off Monoceros, but snorted as the man continued to fly. He could feel the slight sense of clarity it gave the other, so he started walking to give the man that time. He wanted to be annoyed, but after the ride, he was sure that...if celestial spirits were business like - with perhaps the exception of Skadi and Capricorn - they didn’t like you. He’d seen Virgo do things to scare the living hell out of Lucy or the Pradesh Family every chance she could, and Leo was an insufferable, if semi-helpful, Flirt.   

 

He had three of the nine Bifrost Keys and knew that it would be much more difficult than ever as he pursed his lips. He didn’t know...what the other keys of the set were; not that he hadn’t researched them, but...there were so many mixed accounts of what the keys were. Some spoke of Freya and Freyr, others spoke of Hel, some of Idunn, of Njord, of Nidhogg, of Jormungand but all spoke of Loki, the trickster and Fenrir, the shadow wolf. The set was shrouded in mystery as to which were actually the right keys and if some had simply found another set that looked similar and was simply tied to the Bifrost somehow.

 

The smell of spiced apples drew him out of his mind and he smiled as he leaned into Kaleb, “welcome back to the ground.”   
  
Kaleb chuckled, “you were thinking hard, was fairly certain you didn’t want them interrupted.”

 

The celestial mage let out a low hum as they walked, “thank you, just..trying to figure out what is left in this damnable set of keys….” He smiled slightly as he felt Kaleb’s hand curl through the hair on the back of his head, “accounts of ownership are too...varied.”

 

“You will figure it out,” Kaleb said softly, “and I’ll make sure you get the set.”

 

Hestor let out a hum. He wanted the keys, but at the same time, he was afraid of the keys. Afraid of what tests they might  put out. It wasn’t just his life on the line anymore, Kaleb’s was as well and he was wary.

  
  


~)~)~)~)~))~

 

Hestor walked with every bit of his normal confidence as they got into the guildhall. His eye twitching slightly as he heard a few curious whispers, but strode towards the bar to get a meal, “I’ll be up shortly.”

 

The man held up a hand as he walked past Sercha, “not a word.”

 

The woman slowly grinned and trailed after him, “diamonds are an in-”

 

“I said not a word,” Hestor leveled a look at her.

 

The woman kept one of the straightest faces Hestor had ever seen as her eyes darted up and down him, “we should have a ladies’ day.”

 

“...no.” Hestor scowled, smiling at the mage behind the bar, “Kaleb’s normal and My Normal.” He then turned to Sercha, “No. whatever you are thinking, the answer is no.”

 

“Oh, so they’re not fishnets?” her eyes danced with glee at the sigh that Hestor let out. 

 

This. this was why he tried to keep people at bay...and after effects of his spirits interactions out in the open as little as possible.  The silver haired man brought his hand up and slowly rubbed the bridge of his nose, “this is from an encounter with a celestial Spirit.” his hand went up and he took the tiara out, “here, perhaps you can do something with this.” 

 

He almost regretted that, just knowing it was probably going to end up in his new personal collection, especially when she spoke, “...add some pearls...sterling to blend into your hair..”

 

Hestor debated on taking it back, but the woman was already walking away and it would look far too suspicious. He couldn’t help but let out a faint sigh as he saw green hair in the edge of his vision, “what?”

 

“So the local theater has reached out…”

 

“No,” Hestor scowled as he stood there, crossing his arms on his chest.

 

Beck snorted, “you know, we go over this every year...they, for some reason, like it when you work as production manager.”

 

“I do not have time.” Hestor moved to pick up the tray and turn, wanting to snap as the larger man walked with him.

 

_ “You’ve been specifically requested,”  _ Kaleb watched Hestor over his tablet, flipping through things as he half picked up the conversation.  _ “Unless you want to turn it down…” _

 

_ “...I suppose I will-” _

 

_ “Alright, you’ve been marked as taking it.” _

 

_ “Look it over…”  _ Hestor scowled up at the mindbender as Beck walked with him and narrowed his eyes, “I’ve apparently already agreed.”

 

“It will be interesting to see you play Dr Frank-n-Furter.” Beck’s eyes danced as he clapped the other mage on the shoulder and strode away. “Practice starts in August.”

 

Hestor slowly walked, Kaleb more worried at the utter silence in the man’s mind. He could feel ire, but only barely. He half wondered, but he knew the man tried to help out a bit with the production every year, normally behind the scenes. These things took longer than most understood to get right and he let out a faint sigh.

 

~)~)~))~)~

  
  
  


Kaleb pursed his lips as he heard the sound of a marble going into a jar. He wondered what the celestial mage was doing, but he came out of his study and moved to check on dinner. The mindbender debated, “hes?”

 

“Mm?” The half-boscan didn’t say anything as stirred a pot, “what is it?”

 

“What was that?” Kaleb could  **feel** the arched eyebrow and slowly looked over from the couch, watching his mate curiously.

 

“I put a marble in a jar, for every nap and night of sleep without a night terror,” Hestor pursed his lips, “it’s...a way to show i’m getting better.” He smiled over his shoulder, “I’ve not...since about a week after the new year.”

 

Kaleb thought for a moment, brow furrowing. It had always caught him off guard when it happened, but now that he thought about it, it hadn’t been happening in awhile. With finalizing everything for the upcoming wedding, he’d not really thought about it, they simply fell asleep together and Hestor didn’t have them when they were curled together. Naps were different and he smiled, “well, that’s good then.”

 

“Or very bad,” Hestor said, frowning, “I don’t know yet.” he shook his head, “it could mean….that I’ve overcome the fear of whatever it was, or…”

 

Kaleb pursed his lips, “you think it’s soon.”

 

Hestor shrugged a bit, “one attacks their opponent psychologically for months...then it stops, leaves them off guard.” he picked up a spoon, carefully tasting what he was cooking, “then you do it again...moments before striking. Make them unstable.”

 

“And...that jar helps how?”

 

Hestor pulled the pot off and set it aside, “it’s a reminder to not let my guard down.” He quirked his lips at the other man  and then turned to pull a tray of fresh baked bread and roasted meat out of the oven, “so I am not caught off guard.”

  
  


)~)~)~)~)~)~)

 

Hestor let out a low hum as he stretched, nuzzling into kaleb and smiling at the smell of spiced apples. Then he frowned as he heard...birds. The man shot up and looked around for a moment, staring and taking in what was around their shared bed. “Kaleb…” 

 

What had they been doing the evening before? His mind went over it quickly. It was a full moon, they’d gone for a late night ride because something had been keeping them up...or well, he rode Pegasus and Kaleb had been flying...then he’d felt...like the world had dropped out of him..seen a lunar eclipse start...and then nothing.

 

Now they were in an orchard on a rather nice bed that had vines and flowers everywhere. He could smell water, but it wasn’t the rich smell of the Grass Sea and it wasn’t as tangy as ocean water..there was something almost...honeyed about the smell.

 

He could see the trees around them and he let out a faint scowl as he tried to get his mind working as he felt Kaleb coming around. He smiled and rolled his eyes as the other man shot up in the bed. “Morning.”

 

“Where are we?”

 

“If I knew that…” Hestor slowly looked towards the man and arched an eyebrow. “...I am also thinking I never wish to go out when there is a lunar eclipse again.”

  
  
  
  



	15. Everyone has their Poison

Hestor sighed as he sat there, “at least we’re clothed.”

 

Kaleb scowled slightly as he looked at Hestor, “I don’t care for this.”

 

The Celestial mage sighed as he stretched and slowly moved to swing his legs off the bed, “trial by fire, for each and every one.” The man let out a hiss as Bragi came wandering down a path, “what are you doing here?”

 

The spirit blinked for a moment and looked at the two for a moment. He opened his mouth once and then shut it as the smell of crisp apples filled the air and his head turned, holding out a hand, “my beloved.”

 

A woman with black eyes curled out a hand and smiled as she took Bragi’s, sliding into him and kissing him deeply with a low moan, “my poet.”

 

“Why are we here?” Hestor said, slowly standing, absently putting himself between the two spirits and Kaleb.

 

“I think that may be Bragi’s fault, if your bond is new,” Idunn pursed her lips, “I have not yet had much time to set up a new trial.”

 

Bragi looked almost ashamed, but held the female spirit close, “i give my apologies, Beloved.”

 

The woman smiled faintly, “it is fine.” she looked at the two for a moment, “Perhaps a change of clothing is in order?”

 

Hestor felt his blood go cold, “no, we don’t…”

 

Idunn smirked as she walked close, “you’re in **my bed**. Bragi, if you would?”

 

The male spirit chuckled and then magic swirled around the Celestial mage, leaving him in a white teddy, thong, garterbelt and stockings. Kaleb couldn’t help but let out a lust filled growl at the sight.

 

“White?” Idunn arched an eyebrow.

 

Bragi smirked, “his mate loves him in white.”

 

Hestor brought a hand to his face and mumbled, “I hate you all.” he arched though when he felt the rough hands of the mindbender sliding up his side and couldn’t help but let out a small whimper as he was pulled back between the man’s legs as they were swung over the edge of the bed. He wanted to protest that he was not going to have sex in front of spirits, but knew it was a moot point. They all had watched him at different points in his life. He Knew it, they knew it, he knew they knew he knew and they would grin, shrug and in the case of Vulpeca? That damn fox tried to give him **tips** , him. A boscan raised male. That had been one hell of a conversation. Besides, the feel of Kaleb’s lips on his shoulders felt far too damn good for him to protest too much.

 

Idunno watched the two and then slid onto the bed, her chin resting on Kaleb’s shoulder and she purred into the man’s ear, “passion can be amazing...but it can also be toxic. Any good thing can turn toxic.” her hands slowly came up, running up the broad back and she murmured, “now...what to do with you two…”

 

When there was no reaction to her touch, in the least, she let out a low hum, “mm, toxin resistance….does your mate share it?”

 

Kaleb narrowed his eyes and looked at the spirit before watching as the female spirit stood in a fluid motion. “What are you getting at?”

 

She stood in front of them and her fingers shifted out, slowly curling along the panting Celestial Mage’s jaw. She leaned forward, murmuring, “Sleep, my sweet prince.” her lips ghosted over his and Hestor let out a strangled sound as his body arched.

 

Kaleb let out a curse as he grabbed his mate as his body went limp and then gently laid him on the bed, eyes wide, “what did you do?!”

 

Idunn’s long nailed fingers went out, curling over Kaleb’s cheek, “the antidote is somewhere in this orchard…” her dark eyes were intense, “let’s see if you can find it before it’s too late, hmm?” The woman turned, walking to a lounge and sitting, lounging back with her arms over the back of it, licking her lips.

 

“How cold do you think he will get before death, archangel?”

 

Kaleb surged to his feet, “what is it with you keys?!” He near roared, fear lacing through him.

 

Idunn watched him impassively, “would you **starve** without him?”

 

Lavender eyes shot wide at the words and he swallowed, barely aware of the hoarse ‘yes’ that fell from his lips as he nodded. He watched her lips slowly curl into a smile and felt dread. There was nothing **nice** about that smile, it was one that he’d seen from many, just before someone fell over dead from poison.

 

“Prove it,” dark eyes danced with delight, “one apple. In the orchard, let us see if you can **find** it...before you end up starving.”

 

Kaleb let out a low growl as he stood there then stalked away. Every fiber of his being said to rip the spirit apart, but that wouldn’t save hestor. He could feel the coldness surrounding his mate, could feel Charon as he started his search. He only glanced back once and his eyes narrowed at the pale, dark clothed figure.

 

The smells that curled around him were many, each having their own crispness: mint, honey, cinnamon, fennel...and he wasn’t sure how the hell an apple was supposed to smell like fennel, but it did.

 

What the hell was he looking for among all these smells? He didn’t even know what poison the woman had used. There had been no smell, for all he knew there was no antidote. No, She had firmly stated that it was there, he just had to find it in time. Poisons were not his forte, that was Vander, dammit. After a few frustrated minutes, he could feel almost a plea through their bond and swallowed harshly. He had to do this, Hestor was counting on him.

 

It felt like hours as he searched and he felt the waning of the other man, frustration grabbing onto him as he was getting nowhere. All the apples had that same golden shimmer to them, the only difference was the smell that they gave off. His frustration kept building and he let out a frustrated sound, hand slamming into a tree trunk; the mindbender started when an apple fell and he pursed his lips as he crouched down to pick it up. The smell that hit his lips made him let out a soft sound: sea sage, honey and stardust.

 

He looked at it, rolling his fingers over it and nodded. He wasn’t sure if it was the right choice, but it **felt** right. With Spirits, sometimes the intent was more than the actual answer. He took a breath, not knowing  how far he was from the bed, but as he felt a tremor in the bond, his eyes glowed. Kaleb let out a low growl and felt along the bond before magic swirled around him and he was standing over the bed again.

 

Idunn let out a low moan, the spirit barely registering the man was back as her hips rolled and she was fully lost in Bragi, the male pinned beneath her as she rode him. She let out hisses of pleasure as her head fell back.

 

Kaleb ignored the spirits, watching his mate and seeing the pallor to his skin, seeing the shallow breaths and he bit into the apple. It was sweet and bitter at the same time and he chewed a bit before leaning over and slanting his lips across Hestor’s, letting his tongue slide into the man’s mouth to share the juice from the fruit. When he pulled back, swallowing the bite of apple, he gently cradled the man’s cheek in his hand, “come back to me, Hes.”

 

His eyes narrowed on Charon as he let out a low growl of warning to the being. Charon, it seemed, despite his features not moving, arched an eyebrow at the archangel and leaned against the headboard, almost...as if he were boredly waiting. The blue-green eyes danced as Hestor went still and Kaleb felt nothing but cold along their bond.

 

The mindbender shook his head, eyes widening a bit, voice a low growl “no, i will not accept this!”

 

Idunn looked over with a breathy sigh of completion and watched the blond man shake. Her dark eyes holding nothing as she slid off Bragi and then walked to the bed, “why did you choose what you chose?”

 

Kaleb snarled up at the woman, “it...smelled of something I can’t live without.”

 

Dark eyes studied Kaleb before she leaned over the Celestial Mage, feeling the archangel’s power curling out, getting ready to lash out the longer the silver haired man was unmoving. She pressed her lips against Hestor’s lightly and murmured, “And from this slumber you shall wake, when true love’s kiss, the spell shall break.”

 

She stood and looked at the archangel, arching an eyebrow as if in Challenge. As Charon let his hand move towards the celestial mage, Kaleb dove forward, hands grasping Hestor’s face and pressing their lips together.

 

He poured everything he had into the kiss, tears slowly leaving his eyes, hanging on deep lashes. He let his emotions rage as he pushed magic into Hestor, letting it sear through the man, wanting it to clear away everything negative it could.

 

The spirits watched the wave of magic as it flowed over the silver haired man and Idunn’s eyes lit up as she watched the magical pathways burning brightly, the magic almost burning over the ruined lines of magic before soothing them, smoothing them, strengthening them.

 

Hestor let out a gasp into the kiss, his hands coming up, grabbing the blond hair as he let out a shuddering breath into Kaleb’s mouth that trailed off to a moan. The mindbender echoed the sound when he felt their bond flare to life, stronger than before and pressed himself against the other man, their bodies rolling together.

 

The mindbender was almost frantic with need, love and joy as he ripped at the clothing that hestor was wearing, uncaring as his own pants were pushed down. Both let out guttural groans of pleasure as Kaleb didn’t waste any time to feel his mate around him, rolling his hips roughly and tearing a cry from the smaller man’s lips as his body arched.

 

Hestor let out a few cries, body arching as his fingers clung to kaleb’s shoulders and he hissed into a kiss. The slender fingers moved just a bit before magic flared and wings spread above the couple, enveloping them and the man’s fingers slid back before curling around the top of the wings, feeling the soft feathers before he was caressing them. _“Up”_ he mentally whispered to the mindbender, purring as Kaleb rocked back onto his heels. His head fell back as he groaned, rolling his hips and holding onto the ridges of the golden wings, using them as extra leverage as he rode the larger man with no reservations.

 

It wasn’t as long as either wished before Hestor’s back was arching with a cry and pulling Kaleb over that pleasurable edge with him. Both trembled as Hestor slumped against the mindbender, face in the man’s neck. He let out a low hum and smiled softly as his fingers slowly uncurled from the wings and wound around Kaleb’s neck. His voice was soft and soothing as he murmured, “i’m right here, Kaleb, I’m going nowhere.”

 

“You weren’t, for a few moments, you weren’t,” Kaleb whispered into the silver hair, holding the Celestial mage tightly.

 

Hestor let out a low hum, hips slowly rolling with a low moan, “don’t think on that.” he hissed as the larger man bit into his shoulder and he shuddered with a soft mewl of need.

 

Neither noticed for a few moments that magic curled around them, swirling and depositing them in their bed and it would be hours before the kaleidoscopic key on the nightstand would be noticed as the fervent forest fire like burn of need lust melted into the low, warm burn of love and desire as their bodies shifted against one another.

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

 

Hestor wasn’t sure why he felt better than ever, but he pushed it aside. The man was far too grumbly as he attempted to not show that the packages that had been arriving for him made him content and happy. Growing up on the border of Stella and Bosco had created an amalgam of traditions in the oceanside village.

 

He could recall that some things were very Boscan, but then when it came to weddings, the small gifts that would be given to the couple were special. The divers did it as a way to give the Sea’s blessing to the couple to be. It was never anything large, no, they were small items meant to show the Sea’s love for the couple.

 

Kaleb looked in amusement as large fishbowl, of all things, was set out. The silver haired man had been fussing for over half an hour on it. He’d asked if they had to get a fish for it, only to get a cross look and a pillow thrown at him that made a chuckle rise in the mindbender.

 

There wasn’t enough gravel for it to actually house a fish, but shells and smokey rocks of all colors were in the bottom. The Celestial Mage had actually fussed for twenty minutes with the water that had been sent in a jar and he watched as the slender fingers adjusted the small bright purple….thing in the bowl again.

 

“What is that?” Kaleb watched Hestor as the mage looked up from where he was kneeling by the coffee table.

 

Hestor snorted as he looked over his shoulder, “A piece of coral from the bay. A blessing, Kaleb, for harmony in our lives as we move forward.” he gently placed algae into the bowl, watching as it floated about, and only let out a slight hiss as he pulled his hand out, rubbing a spot, “testy piece at that.”

 

The celestial mage stood and moved to the other man, chuckling as he felt the warmth from the other, the ache soothing away as magic curled through their touching hands, “In a year...we will go to Eventide bay...and release it into one of the reefs. To show that we, in a year, accepted the Sea...and now give back to her.”

 

Kaleb purred as he drew the other into a kiss and murmured, “less than a month.”

 

Hestor rolled his eyes as he returned the kiss, “yes...then the grandmaster games where I get to look pretty.” he pulled away and stretched.

 

“I hear they’ve already got-”

 

“Don’t say it.”

 

“Quite a few pieces for you,” Kaleb smirked and grabbed Hestor’s wrist as the man threw a punch. He pulled the arm up and yanked, the other going around the silver haired male and pressing their bodies together, “they have had **months** to work on it, Hes.”

 

Hestor nestled his head in the crook of the other man’s neck and mumbled, “ugh. If they make me look like a princess…”

 

“You’ll match me,” Kaleb chuckled as he kissed the man’s temple, feeling the anxiety that was coming from the man, “and we will find the five keys as soon as we can…”

 

“Mm, on the honeymoon after the games,” the celestial mage knew things were going to be close with everything going on and they’d both agreed to put off their honeymoon, simply due to time constraints.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this was...rewritten about 8 times. nothing seemed to work for Idunn...
> 
> Then the one shot with Van/Rowan/Hestor came out...and the muses finally worked..
> 
> I'm fairly content and happy with it, i think it fits Idunn...and, yes...Kaleb **did** heal Hestor all the way.


	16. Wedded Sunrise

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> as the only record I have of a Boscan wedding is from Light of The Sea...yeah. that was drug from there. a few modifications...but I feel happy with it.

Spending almost a month seemingly getting to reused to his magic had made Hestor testier than normal at times.  The first few days after he’d not had anything to focus on with getting ready for their wedding, he’d accidentally summoned Ma’at in the middle of the guildhall. The spirit had looked around for a moment, arched an eyebrow and strode towards the mage, pointing out that Abraxis would have probably enjoyed sharing pleasure more than he did.

 

Kaleb had never seen the Celestial mage’s face quite that shade of red as he sunk down behind the wall of the balcony railing and covered his head. The spirit had been amused, Kaleb had been amused and the guildmembers that were there that day were amused. The snarky wit returned within hours though and Hestor was laying into anyone that came close to him with a razor sharp tongue that had his displeasure at their amusement known.

 

Then it was meditation and being run through training by his spirits to fine tune his control even more..and if the Man snarked at them, they made things even harder for him. Evenings were for them and after he’d seen one of the exercises the spirits had him doing, he sat the man down to watch Labyrinth, thinking he hadn’t seen it, the man didn’t ever say anything about movies and some flashes of memories during their mating had been thrown under darker moments in the man’s past. What he found...was that the Prickly man **adored** the movie and would continue with the focus exercise while quoting and singing along.

 

They’d watched their niece and nephews quite a few times, the celestial mage humming almost absently as the children had played with toys specifically made for the children of mages and they’d made happy sounds as the dolls and plush toys danced with glowing golden motes around them. It made the mindbender realize even more than when they finally started their family, the celestial mage would make a good father. Unlike the last time they’d watched Raven, the silver haired man took less from the boy.  Much less. Little petulant growls were met with sharp looks and firm words that made the boy’s dark eyes go wide before backing down.

 

Kaleb realized that he was going to miss the other man, if only for one night, until he’d gotten ready to go spend the evening sleeping away from Hestor. He’d blinked at the slamming of the door to the man’s haven after a quick kiss and heard the lock slam into place. A broody feeling along their bond as he tried to process what had just happened.

 

“He will be fine,” Ming had chuckled as she lead the blinking blond away from the door, “let him sulk. He did it a lot as a child.”  
  
“I did not!” came the muffled and sharp voice from behind the closed door.

 

Ming mouthed ‘he did’ as she lead Kaleb away. When they got to the door, she held out a book, “here, we’ve...had a bit of a go attempting to get this done without him knowing. Copies of photos of him as a child.”

 

Kaleb looked over his shoulder, arching an eyebrow as he took the book and nodded, heading out.

 

Ming waited ten minutes, making a pot of tea, “he’s gone, you can stop sulking now.”

 

Hestor hissed as the lock clicked and his head leaned out, “I am not **sulking**.”

 

“Brooding is still sulking,” the woman looked at him and arched an eyebrow as Hestor padded out, “come now, let us talk.”

 

Hestor let out a low grumble as he sat, almost absently, on the floor and let his head rest in Ming’s lap, “I don’t know what about.”

 

The woman chuckled as she gently ran her fingers through his hair, “oh? Your magic feels different.”

 

Hestor pursed his lips, “I noticed it, too, after Idunn’s trial. I don’t know what happened, but...Kaleb was semi-frantic.” his face turned red, “and I accidentally summoned a spirit in the middle of the guildhall.”

 

“You? Accidentally?”

 

Hestor huffed, “yes. It was not on purpose, therefore an accident.” he sighed as he held out a hand, orbs appearing in his palm and he slowly rolled them “this has become something to do in all idle time I have.”

 

Ming smiled, “I recall seeing you upset when you were young and not being able to do that.”

 

“I’ve gotten better,” Hestor snorted as he sat there.

 

Ming arched an eyebrow, “you cried and said you wanted to be the goblin king so you could do it so well.”

 

“Mother!” Hestor hissed.

 

Ming sipped her tea, “I still have that costume that you spent eight months making for halloween.” her lips curled into a smirk as the celestial mage groaned, looking as smug as the man himself did quite often.

 

~)~)~)~))~~

 

Kaleb and his brothers had spent the evening going through the book he’d been given and even Emzadi was cooing at some of them. The dragon slayer seemed more partial to the baby pictures of the prickly man, most notably one where he’d just sneezed and his eyes were crossed with a look that was ‘prickly glare light’ as if something had truly offended him, but the anger was about the same that a kitten could muster.

 

The mindbender found his favorite was one of the celestial mage at five, with a huge grin and a shell in his hands. The caption was ‘first clam’ and the fact that the steel blue eyes were filled with joy and that he was missing a few teeth as they came in had nothing to do with it. Second to that had been a halloween festival where the boy was probably eight and dressed as Jereth...Melina as Sarah had given a bit of annoyance, but the cool look on the young Hestor’s face gave him a bit of satisfaction. The two were in the outfits from the ballroom scene and he had to admit, whoever had made them had done a decent job.

 

Lucy cooed, “we need to get him dressed like that again…” she side eyed Kaleb and hummed, “i wonder if Virgo can make a dress big enough…”

 

Kaleb slowly arched an eyebrow, “what is going on through your head?”

 

“Halloween ideas,” Lucy grinned broadly, “and you in a pink, poofy ballgown...cancer can do your hair, make you a brunette for the night.” she paused, “stockings might be an issue too..not sure if they make them in your size.” she critically eyed Kaleb.

 

~)~)~)~

 

Kaleb had found it only slightly hard to get to sleep, used to the smell of sea sage with a bit of stardust filling his senses. The albums had helped and he had almost laughed himself into exhaustion at some of the things that Hestor had done as a child, which made his heart warm just a little more.

 

He’d felt Hestor wake up and had chuckled to himself as the feelings that had always reared their heads when he was dealing with his mother flared. He was waiting as patiently as he could on the massive terrace at the citadel, not nervous about anything other than seeing the other again. They’d idly talked about what they were wearing, but Ming had arched an eyebrow at them a week ago and told them to not tell one another. It had been a moment of him asking why and Hestor grumbling about traditions of Eventide Bay.

 

He’d seen Hestor eyeing his closet on a good day with disdain, until he’d found the deep burgundy traditional suit he was wearing.  He hadn’t worn it in awhile, but seeing the celestial mage muse how it would look on him again had solidified his choice. He still had no clue what the other man would be wearing.

 

Kaleb would wonder why Hestor’s parents were seated with the families, and a few people from Eventide bay, but the woman was currently in what he would call a detached ‘debate’ with Xiao Xing, the man smiling almost in amusement as he spoke back. He was curious, but wary about the man being there, but his sister wasn’t, so he supposed that was a good thing.

 

When Hestor did emerge, Kaleb couldn’t help his breath catching. The boscan suit the man wore was a pale sage color that was just tinted blue and his bare arm had a thick silver band on it that held three loops of chain, each having a single deep purple shell on it.  The man’s eyes however had been lined in Khol in a way that he knew was very typical of the priests and priestesses of Stella, it made the steel blue seem to stand out more and the silver circlet around his head had a single pearl hanging from it that matched the ones that he had never taken off. His shoulders also held an ornate set of chains, each with glowing stellarium crystals that fell down his sternum.  Hestor was flanked by Ma’at and Ammit, the two sets of yellow eyes having, kaleb would dare say, pride in their depths.

 

The priest of the order smiled at the couple. "For  centuries Bosco has fought and struggled to come to a point where  equality will reach balance. All are of equal value in our culture, and we hold the sacred vows of Marriage as the greatest honors  two people can bestow upon each other, the union of two lives for all of those lives. Who will speak for this man?"  His eyes gazed at kaleb and he waited.

 

Arman stepped forward coming to Kalebs side."I will, Arman Tesion Pradesh, his father." Arman said firmly.

 

The Priest nodded and called again, looking towards Hestor. "Who will speak for this man?"  


Ma’at and Ammit stepped forward, speaking as one, “we shall, Ma’at and Ammit, of the Hall of two Truths, bound to Bosco and Stella through our keyholder, we speak for his family, his spirits and Stella.” Kaleb did his best to not show the shock of the last bit of their statement.  


"Very well. Arman."

  
  
Arman drew a breath, smiling at Hestor then turning to Kaleb. "On your knees my son."

 

Kaleb dropped to his knees, smiling up at Hestor, still half taking the man in.

 

 _“Stars that’s a good look on you.”_ Hestor purred into his head, keeping their eyes locked, but the mindbender couldn’t help the mental groan at the images of the other having him tied up and on his knees.

 

_“...we may have to try that.”_

 

 _“I’ve felt better than I have in years.”_ The celestial mage purred, _“tonight, you are_ **_mine_ ** _.”_

 

"State your intentions." Arman prompted and Kaleb drew a deep breath.

 

"I  Kaleb Suraday Pradesh, take you Hestor Kedanza as my husband, my equal, my partner, to share my challenges and joys. I swear to keep myself only for you, to share pleasure with none away from your eyes and pleasure, to help choose any surrogate and stand by your choice,” he gave the man a small grin, “and I swear to honor you,  cherish you, protect and love you with all that I am for the rest of my life."

 

The steely eyes swam a bit as Hestor stood there and took a breath, swallowing slightly and biting the inside of his cheek.

 

Arman spoke softly, “Hestor Kedanza, I, Arman Tension Pradesh, place my son at your feet. I vow that I will be your support in times of trouble, your council when you are lost, that I an d my family will be your family from this day forward as long as we shall live.” He smiled warmly at the silver haired man “I give you my son’s life, his heart, his body and will support your union for all my days to come, for any and all children you bring into your family through adoption or surrogacy.” Ammit’s lips quirked just a bit at the stress on ‘surrogacy’, but stood there stoically, “through every challenge and joy. Do you accept this offer?”

 

Hestor hadn’t missed the stress of the one word, but nodded with a small smirk, “I do.” his smirk turned warm, _“stuck with me now, you know.”_

 

 _“No place I’d rather be.”_ Kaleb watched the other as he slid the Stellarium and white gold ring on the other man’s fingers, _“willingly did so.”_

 

Ma’at spoke with a slight roll to his eyes, “Master, state your intentions…” he paused, “without your sharp tongue.” there were a few chuckles, especially to those that knew the celestial mage.

 

Hestor flushed slightly, _“my spirits.”_ The man took a breath as he looked at Kaleb, “I, Hestor Adom Kedanza, take you, Kaleb Suraday Pradesh, as my husband. My Equal. My partner. To share my challenges and joys.” his voice softened, though it still managed to carry, “I swear to keep myself only for you, to share pleasure with none away from your eyes-” _“unless you’re blindfolded and we’re doing a threesome…”_ “-to chose a surrogate that we both agree on, or children that we will adopt to grow our family. I swear to honor you, cherish you, protect you-” _“probably from my spirits.”_ Kaleb couldn’t help the small grin at the mental commentary from the Celestial mage, “and love you with all that I am, mind, spirit and magic, for the rest of my life.”

 

"Kaleb Pradesh, I, Ma’at place our Keyholder, our Priest before you. I vow that we, his spirits, will be your support in times of trouble, your council when you are lost, that I and all the spirits magically bound to him will be yours through him from this day forward  as long as you both shall live. we give you, his life, his heart, his body and vow we will support your union for all of the days to come, for all the children you have through every challenge and joy. Do you accept this offer, from us and from Stella?" Ma’at looked down at Kaleb, eyes firm.

 

The mindbender smiled as he looked into the twin sets of yellow eyes, “I do.”

 

Hestor let his hand come up, holding it palm up towards the blond, _“really going to have to get you on your knees again soon.”_

 

The  Priest smiled at them. "Kaleb is a Knight of the Immaculate light, a vessel of the light, Hestor Kedanza, to move forward with your claim on this man, you must bathe in the immaculate light with him for 1 hour, do you accept this understanding if you have any but the purest intentions for your union-”

 

_“Does fucking and riding you into exhaustion count as impure?”_

 

_“No, it’s not against my will.”_

 

“- the light will find them and burn them from you, may even kill you if you hide any true darkness within you?”

 

Hestor nodded as he looked up at Kaleb, “I accept.” _“...you think the holy planes will be pissed if I try to give you a blowjob in there..”_

 

_“I don’t think there’s the room in there for it.”_

 

_“Tch.”_

 

Kaleb looked at his mate for a moment, lips quirking in amusement and that’s when everyone realized that the sharp tongued comments, whatever they may have been, were being kept **well** between the two.

 

“Honor  Guards, please take this couple to the lacrima." He called and Hestor  watched Cristoff and Kaleb’s Uncle Tesso come in their full dress armor to collect them and walk them to the chamber from the corner of his eye.

 

Cristoff smirked as they walked, trying to keep a straight face as they did so, “please tell me you two weren’t plotting anything.”

 

Tesso rolled his eyes, “Kaleb? Maybe? Hestor? Without a doubt.”

 

“Oh, ye of little faith,” Hestor said, head tilted up as he smirked, “we both figured out there’s not enough room inside.”

 

There were chuckles as Kaleb was helped into the lacrama and Hestor stood there for a moment. He took a deep breath and everyone there knew he was steeling his nerves. He’d been inside it just over seven months prior, so it was more him taking deep breaths to calm himself and worry about if Charon would show up.

 

He carefully climbed in, taking kaleb’s help and arching an eyebrow, “ready for this... _hero_?” he leaned up, gently kissing the other man as the crystal sealed around them.

 

While the mating had shared their pasts, it wasn’t as if it was easy to make any sense of it at the time. Hestor had been almost dead and many of his memories had been secured by his keys. Inside the Crystal though, they again shared everything, now with nothing impeding it. While Kaleb had known the man had started down a dark path, he hadn’t been aware of just how far he’d gone, but he was very glad for Lucy at that moment, dragging him back...sometimes kicking and screaming.  The biggest revelation was how **long** Hestor had loved him for.

 

Hestor let everything flow through him, letting the light find every bit of darkness and then let the things that Kaleb had done flow over him. The man’s life was not easy, no, and he had only seen bits and pieces through Lucy, now, seeing all of it? He wrapped his arms around Kaleb, resting his head against the other’s neck.

 

Both men felt Charon and took sharp breaths before relaxing at the words that filtered across their minds, _“Today I will not bother, I will have other days. Enjoy this sacred day.”_

 

When they felt the breeze, both men opened their eyes and Hestor pulled back, arching an eyebrow. He snorted as he saw his breath in the air, “...I’m sure that will go away soon enough.”

 

The two shared a kiss as they chuckled, emotionally churning, but content in each other.  The two carefully got out, Hestor giving Cristoff an arched eyebrow and half shooing the man away, “we’re fine. Stars, you’re a fussy man.” His lips curled into a wicked grin, “we still have another ceremony...and I am very much looking forward to it.”

 

The two were quiet, though Hestor was testing the other man’s resolve with mental pictures as he looked out the window with a calm demeanor and a small quirk of his lips, as they were escorted out and to a waiting car by two members of the Sudehpah order.  They didn’t stop at the party that was going on, and even if they could have, Kaleb knew Hestor would be attempting to ‘sarcasm’ his way out of too much social interactions.

 

Thane smiled as he saw the two, “everything is ready. Welcome home, Master Hestor.”

 

“Thank you, Thane,” The man lightly put his hand on the teleport mage’s shoulder as they passed him, readying himself for what was to come.

 

As the two were undressed and bathed, Hestor kept idly throwing thoughts at kaleb of the other man submitting and he could see the heat rising in his eyes. He gave the other a challenging arch of an eyebrow before he let out a soft sigh of delight at the warm water. Kaleb could tell that Hestor was plotting something, but he wasn’t sure what as they were lead to the bedroom.

 

The smaller man let out an audible hum as he lightly draped his arms over the Kaleb’s shoulders and kissed him. The quirk of the lips was the only warning kaleb got before there was a light touch of magic and Hestor’s hand was sliding down his chest, giving him a very light push that, with the added weight of the wings that he’d called forth, sent the mindbender back onto the bed.

 

Hestor purred, “tonight...you’re mine first, Kaleb.” he leaned over the other man, eyes dancing before he nibbled on the other’s jaw lightly. Slender fingers found the oil and it wasn’t long before the celestial mage was humming around Kaleb’s shaft, almost purring as he prepared the man. His eyes half closed as he heard the groaning from his mate and his eyes danced as he looked up the expanse of chest and arched an eyebrow.

 

_“You’re devious.”_

 

 _“You wouldn’t have me any other way.”_ Hestor chuckled around Kaleb and watched him shudder. It was easy to just forget the two sudehpah in the room and that was what they did. When Hestor was sure the other was ready, he slowly slid up Kaleb’s body, nipping and licking across the skin, “...stars…” his eyes danced as he looked into those lavender eyes then smirked, “i will see you on your knees after this…”

 

As he pressed into the taller man, the celestial mage purred, “and…I think in fishnets.” He drug the other into a kiss as he heard the moan from Kaleb. _“Turnabout is fair play.”_ The man couldn’t help but moan as he continued to kiss the larger man, pouring everything that he kept well away from the eyes of others into the kiss.

 

Hestor made it his goal as he rolled his hips to keep the other man writhing beneath him as his eyes danced. He truly didn’t know how long he found every inch of skin he could nip, suck and lick at. His fingers found every place that he’d found to light the other man up and he took it all to his advantage as he drew out the rolling of his hips.

 

When the mindbender came undone, he couldn’t help but follow with a groan. The man purred into a kiss and when he slowly slid from the other man and climbed on his hips, one silver brow was arched as he grinned.

 

“now...I shall think I will take our time…” the silver haired man purred as he nipped Kaleb’s lower lip, “A lot of it.” his eyes glowed lightly, _“we’ll call this a bit of an early honeymoon.”_

 

He didn’t look over his shoulder as he heard the two sudehpah get up but purred and called his magic forth, the two swirling away in stardust, leaving the two robed sudehpah shaking their heads with soft smiles on their features.

 

~)~)~))~

 

Lucy leaned against Zen, her hand lightly playing with vander’s hair as they sat and waited. Kaleb had come out looking far more than a little sated and damn well rested, “thousand jewel they went to the hall.” She eyed the mindbender and took in the white suit he wore, eyes narrowing a bit in thought.  
  
Vander scoffed, “rigged bet. He looks like he got a full night’s sleep.”

 

The blonde grinned at him, “was worth a shot.”

 

Arman looked at Kaleb and slowly arched an eyebrow, the mindbender giving a small grin as he stood there and the trio all rolled their eyes.

 

The confirmation of this was when Hestor walked towards Kaleb. The man was by no means not a morning person but it took at least a few cups of coffee to get him moving. In fact, the man looked far too well rested for a consummation night, especially with how Lucy knew both were in bed.

 

Hestor had done the khol again, or else they didn’t smudge it at all - which Lucy doubted - and this time his suit was a jacket that looked like stars on the night time ocean, white pants and boots with all the same jewelry as the previous day. His features were soft and calm as he watched Kaleb and stopped in front of him, eyes glinting with delight as the man knelt down, _“...still like this look.”_

 

Kaleb chuckled into the other man’s head, quirking a brow, _“the view isn’t bad from here either.”_

 

the Priest cleared  his throat, quieting the murmurs that had erupted from seeing the heated looks passing between the two. “Hestor Kedanza, you have now the final choice. You have consummate your vows-”

 

_“Quite well, for two days. Not that they know that.”_

 

“-shared pleasure with each other. If this man-”

_“I could have done with another.”_

 

“If this man, Kaleb Pradesh, satisfies you and you wish to share the rest of your life with him, place the ring on his finger-”

 

 _“We were pushing getting here by dawn.”_ Hestor arched an eyebrow just slightly.

 

“-and accept him.”

 

Hestor watched Kaleb, everyone pausing as two massive white wolves padded towards the two. The celestial mage let his hand move out, taking the stellarium-gold alloy band that Vince and Sercha had made from one wolf’s and then smirking at Kaleb, _“maybe we should get a collar made.”_

 

_“Only if you wear one was well.”_

 

 _“Doable,”_ Hestor carefully let his fingers curl along the other’s wrist before he put the band around Kaleb’s wrist, securing it in place. He held out his hand, the ring dropping into it from the other and then kissed the inside of Kaleb’s wrist lightly before sliding it onto the man’s finger and his thin fingers slowly hooked the hanging chains onto it.

 

Kaleb slowly stood as the priest motioned that he could stand, looking down at Hestor, _“trying to be wicked?”_

 

"By  the authority placed in me by the Holy Order of Knights of the Immaculate light, I pronounce you husbands, You may kiss now."

 

 _“I can get away with it right now.”_ Hestor’s smirk grew as he tilted his head up before leaning back as the man dipped his head down, his eyes dancing before Kaleb’s hand came up to the back of his neck and drew him into a kiss. His own curled up and into the blond hair, letting out a low moan before one dipped down and Kaleb felt it before the man had done anything. A small flare of magic and his wings were spreading out behind him and then wrapping around the couple.

 

“White Sea, I give you your new, Co-master” Kaleb called out to cheers as Hestor finally let him go.

 

The silver haired man curled his nose at the cheers and the steel blue eyes narrowed as they started towards where he **knew** there was coffee. The man gave only slightly cross looks at the congratulations after Thane handed him a cup that said ‘Have a Great Day’ on it. A silver brow slowly arched before the aid pointed to the bottom and Hestor actually laughed at the painted on hand that was giving a very nice middle finger. The steel blue eyes danced as he filled it with coffee and honey and sipped from it.

 

The irony of the mug was lost on no one as the prickly man accepted the congratulations with his normal snark and wit. Until he saw his mother and she held out her hand. The two stared at each other and everyone around had a good laugh as the man put the mug behind his back like a child hiding a toy they didn’t want to give up. “No, we have to start training for the Grandmaster Games. I will not give up one of my three mugs.”

 

“It’s rude,” The woman scowled at him.

 

Thane smirked, “that’s the nicest of his mugs.”

 

 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yes, Hestor is devious as fuck and enjoying that they can say things that no one can hear while things are going on around them. that's just him. he's finally back at one hundred and like hell he's not getting a taste of Kaleb writhing beneath him.
> 
> I also did the math lol...Six hours in the hall is two days. who needs a short wedding night? not those two...


	17. Remodeling and The Games

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> hestor's prickly, gets a make over and pretty jewelry...and really...He's the New Kid in town, so to speak...it's kind of Open Season on him when it comes to every other guild there. They want to test him and see if they can take him down...the team may have just been carefully picked so that hestor will possibly die of boredom before anything gets close in group matches.

Hestor had confiscated the office space next to Kaleb’s and he’d had a pocket door installed between the two offices that blended into the wall, save for what looked like the symbol for the guild as it’s handle and it was a small hook of the fingers to slide the door open. He’d taken all of five minutes to pick out the colors: the deep blues of the darkest parts of the ocean and until it was done, Kaleb had been amused at the man camping out in the bay window in his office.

 

The mindbender knew the man could get one put in his own office, but Hestor had simply arched an eyebrow at him and noted there was no reason, he could easily access the one in his office and was an unnecessary expense.  Kaleb had also heard the man rolling ideas for projects around in his head for maker mages and children, which were far ends of the spectrum.

 

It was two days to the Grandmaster games and the two were relaxing with coffee. Kaleb had noted while the man had previously had three very snarky coffee mugs, it seemed like the collection had grown a bit, or maybe Kaleb just hadn’t seen them before they were put out on a shelf. Kaleb was certain the cup the Celestial Mage was sipping from had come back with him after he’d gone down to the school that the Guild helped fund...because he was fairly certain he would have seen it before.

 

The white mug had the outline of a unicorn patterned with what was possibly a galaxy. It was the words that made the mindbender smirk though: _Bitch, please. I’m magical AF. Eat my sparkle Poop._ He wasn’t sure **where** it had come from, but he could figure one or two sources with ease….it was very much something Lucy or Vander would pick out.

 

“Where did you get that mug?” Kaleb watched his mate as the man curled up, sipping from said mug and looking through his tablet.

 

Hestor arched an eyebrow as he slowly looked up from the text and then looked at the mug, “oh, Kek-t. As a wedding present.” Now it made a bit more sense. “She apparently asked Barnacle to help her look.” And even more sense. There were still a few questions, things he’d been mulling over when it came to what the spirits had said at their wedding, but he wasn’t sure how to bring it up.

 

Hestor sipped his coffee and went back to what he was doing, letting out a low hum after awhile, “if you keep thinking so hard, you’re going to be using your magic to unconsciously tap into the minds of others to help you process whatever it is that has you thinking.”

 

The mindbender turned in his seat and arched an eyebrow, “I wouldn’t do that.”

 

The Celestial Mage let out a low hum as he sat there, “I would.” his lips quirked into a smirk as he looked over his tablet and stood. He set the tablet aside and walked past the man’s desk, grabbing his mug and filling both that were in his possession with coffee and honey.

 

“Of course you would,” Kaleb snorted in amusement, “though...I’d be afraid of archive mages you’d get ahold of.”

 

Hestor let out a low hum, “is Andros over the last time Lucy terrorized him?”

 

“Mostly, why?”

 

The silver haired male set the mug in front of Kaleb and grinned, “just wondering.”

 

“You’re plotting,” Kaleb leaned his head a bit to the side.

  
  
Hestor purred as he leaned down to gently kiss the other man, “every day of my life, mostly just worried, he’s a good archive mage, wouldn’t do if he was scared of me because of something she did.” he stood and stretched, “lunch will be brought up soon.”

 

Kaleb shook his head and smiled, “it is, are you going to be training this afternoon?”

 

“Yes. I’ll be working with Skadi and Gaza,” He sipped his coffee and moved back to the window, settling down, “it’s been noted that I still flinch at Skadi’s wolves when in combat.” The man had made a habit of training everyday after lunch before they were married and now that they were and with the Looming Games, it was more important...and mostly for his own pride at times.

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

 

Kaleb was attempting to not be amused. When the Jewelry had been presented, Lucy had been there grinning like a shark. Hestor had sat through the two ornate ear cuffs with minimal fuss past being touched. The contrast of the gold and copper twined together up his right ear and then a single pearl on a long chain dropping halfway down his neck and then the silver and moonstone curled ear cuff with three chains of moonstones on the other was beautiful and he leaned against the doorway, watching as Lucy stood there with Cancer, determined to help do the man’s hair. He’d put up with the filigree circlet with an almost black pearl that sat just above the bridge of his nose, but his hair was apparently where he drew a line.

 

Which was where the current fussing was. The two Celestial Mages were glowering at one another as Sercha stood to the side as if waiting. In her hands was an ornate clip with two deep purple shells that had a Lotus carved out of a smokey dusky pink colored crystal between them that was settled into a silver band.

 

“My hair is perfectly fine,” Hestor snapped as he narrowed his eyes at Lucy. Kaleb had to admit that he’d been amused when Ammit had shown up earlier, pinned him with a look and he’d sat while Kohl had been put around his eyes and the man had simply huffed.

 

“It needs to be just a bit longer,” Lucy was pinning him with her hands on the arms of the chair he was sitting in, “not much, just...enough that it can be pulled back and clipped….without looking stupid. You know...with a little tiny tail of fluffy silver hair.”

 

Hestor slowly arched an eyebrow and Kaleb could hear the man’s mind working on where the nearest escape was and how fast he could move before he’d be tackled by the small blonde. The problem was...she was making a decent point and he let out a disgusted sound, “Fine. not too long though.”

 

“Sure thing!” Lucy chirped and then grinned. Kaleb felt dread curl into Hestor and was tempted to actually stop what was going to happen, but he was half curious as well.

 

Cancer went to work after taking the hair piece and it seemed like no time at all that the silver hair was done. There were still pieces framing his face, bangs lightly hanging over the circlet along his brow, but the top half was swept back, pulled into a bun that had both the clasp that had been made and two ornate hair sticks, each having symbols from the Temple of Anubis hanging from them in a burnished gold metal resting with small bells hanging from them; the man wouldn’t dare do anything ill to pieces that came from his spirits. The rest of his hair, as he stood, flowed down to mid back and Kaleb could almost hear Hestor wanting to hiss and spit in his head, but he took a breath when he heard the light chime from the small bells and he looked at himself in the mirror.

 

Hestor crossed his arms on his chest as he took himself in, resignation curling through him. At least, he mused, he wasn’t wearing white. No, his jacket was made of the same deep ocean blue with ‘stars’ of lighter blue curling across it. The last piece of jewelry was held out and he looked at it. After the ‘priest’ comment at the wedding, Sersha had...he wasn’t going to **say** accosted, but she pretty much had been right between Xiao and Ming and asking about that. It was a silver choker, much like Kaleb’s, but with a black opal that had been carved into a lotus and nestled in the very center of the piece was Kaleb’s birthstone.

 

“There, I’m ready,” his voice was flat as he stood there, tilting his head slightly. He was semi-unhappy with a few things, but he also knew and understood ‘responsibility’ and ‘making the crazy ass hugging women happy.’...this was mostly a case of the latter. He let out a sigh as he saw Kaleb and rolled his eyes as he walked to the man, “yes, yes. I look pretty.”

 

Kaleb chuckled as he gathered his mate in his arms, kissing his temple, “I was not going to say that.”

 

The Celestial mage huffed but relaxed against the other man, “mmhmm.”

 

“Come on, let’s go wait,” he lead the prickly man out of the room, “this will all be fine. There’s no Joren, no one out to target anyone specifically.”

 

Hestor slowly arched an eyebrow, “really? You’ve not been paying attention then.” he nudged the man, “or attempting to distract me. There has been plenty of talk about how all the first lieutenants and significant others are gunning for me.”

 

Kaleb smirked, “you just go out there, play Jareth and let the team do what they do best.”

 

Hestor gave a dry laugh as they walked, rolling his eyes, “If the Bog of Eternal Stench existed. I would be sending people there.”

 

“Even me?” Kaleb arched an eyebrow.

 

Hestor debated as they walked, weighing pros and cons of such an action with a low hum as he brought his hand to his chin, forefinger tapping along his lips, “...perhaps not you, but others, head first right into the bog.” Steel blue eyes rolled as he heard chuckles and looked at that year’s team. After all the training, he was not looking forward to actually biting his pride and not fighting at times.

 

He would admit, he still had a few bruises on his ass from his last spar with Gaza, and he knew Beck could hold his own. Vander was a good choice. Lucy had wanted to be with the brood of children, which he huffed a bit about, but let it go. Zen was there, so that was another power house that he was glad he wasn’t training with at the moment. Emzadi and Cris were both raring for a fight and apparently Gajeel had opted to go with Lucy to help with the fact that there were five slayer babies. They’d also had to explain what happened between him and Kaleb, though, the few leaked wedding pictures of kissing with the man’s wings out at helped significantly. They’d gone through all of it before with Zen, lucy and Vander, so the two of them were half the complication, because Vander was always a complication if he was let run.

 

“You heard me,” hestor arched an eyebrow as he smirked.

 

Vander chuckled, “Great, just what we need, him to find a way to open a gate to bring the real Jareth here. Probably his ancestor or something.”

 

Hestor let out a low hum, “that would be far too odd, I think.” he leveled an even look at the team and then sighed, “i’m going to be standing around doing **nothing** in the group battles, I can tell already. I may die of boredom.”

 

“They do know about your bond,” Emzadi said, looking at her nails critically, “nothing stopping you from pulling him to you…”

 

One silver brow lofted and Hestor looked at Kaleb out of the corner of his eye, “...hmmm.”

 

Kaleb looked at his sister with a flat look, “no.” he said the word again, more firmly as he looked at Hestor, “ **no.** ”

 

Vander chuckled, “if nothing else, he can always just play with his balls while he stands there.”

 

Hestor let out a suffering sigh that garnered chuckles from the group, “Vander.” his lips curled into a dark smirk, “you’ll be the first into the bog, I pity Barnacle.”

 

The laughter erupted and the man only shook his head as he took a few breaths.  They all heard the announcement and while outwardly, Hestor carried himself next to Kaleb with his normal bearing, inside, he could feel more eyes on him than he really wanted. The public knew him as a detached asshole and he was going to keep it that way..or try to. His and Kaleb’s hands brushing made his lips quirk up in a smile, not the usual smirk as he arched a defiant eyebrow at the people looking at them.

 

He was fairly certain, more than anything, he was going to die of **boredom** and just be antsy as hell if he had to stand there and let others defend him. He’d worked damn hard to not need it and it still rankled him, but he would deal, somehow. That wouldn’t stop him from being ready for a fight, but he knew that a tense fighting stance would not be helpful in the least bit.

 

_“They’re going to make me bored...is it against the rules to ask one of my spirits to bring me a snack?”_

 

Kaleb grinned and leaned down, lightly kissing Hestor, to the cheers of the crowd, _“unsure...as Long as they don’t attack to attack. You’re supposed to trust the team.”_

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

 

Kaleb and the entire White Sea team knew it was bad when the first thing out of their opponents mouths was “well, isn’t that where a Celestial mage should be: at the back protected?” The crowd cheered and jeered at the words, making both teams tense.

 

Hestor stared impassively across the field, but they could all hear the rage inside the man. They had been slated for the first fight of the games and no one had truly expected the Lieutenant from any guild to say that, and this man from Nova Gate had pushed just the wrong button nearly instantly. Everyone felt the magic curl around the Celestial Mage as his anger slowly rose and then he let out a breath, hand moving out and orbs appearing in them to funnel the magic in a less wild way.

 

Kaleb knew that the man had hit the very core of what Hestor and Lucy both struggled with and he could feel his mate’s rage as if it were a tempest about to destroy the arena. _“Hestor. Let them.”_

 

_“Oh, he’s in for it if I meet him one on one…”_ The Silver haired man sneered as the orbs started to roll in his fingers, using the exercise to burn off his ire as much as he could. “White Sea. decimate them.” his voice was cold, icy and had a dangerous tone in it that Kaleb hadn’t heard in years.

 

Emzadi grinned as she cracked her knuckles, “well damn...I like him a little more every day.”

 

“Too bad we don’t have an earth and scent mage.” Hestor said, voice almost amused.

 

“...really?” Beck rolled his eyes and shook his head, but he had a small grin on his lips.

 

“But we wouldn’t be able to fight then” Emzadi chuckled before she dove into the fray like the dragoness she was.

 

Vander let out a laugh as he dove beneath one of the other mages, rolling and kicking the woman’s feet out beneath her, “man. You’d have said it, wouldn’t you?”

 

“Yes, yes, I would have,” Hestor watched the fight, eyes narrowed as his ire stayed steady. Even as the fight erupted in front of him, the steely blue eyes were watching as he slowly started to pace back and forth, almost like an evil mastermind or, if Kaleb had to be honest,  borderline a caged animal.

 

Emzadi was grinning as she grabbed a bulky mage around the waist from behind and then her eyes danced as she let out a grunt and hefted him up as she bent backwards, slamming him shoulder’s first into the arena before rolling out from beneath the now dazed mage.

 

“Speed Mage,” Hestor said as he watched one of the mages manage to dodge Cristoff quite a few times. He knew soon enough that it would be over, but he was bored beyond anything he could imagine.

 

When the Speed Mage went flying up into the air, he watched Zen take off into the sky and knock the man back down. Hestor almost felt for him as he became a bit of a human ping pong ball, but then he remembered what had been said and felt no mercy. Vander grinned as he kicked the man, letting him slide to land just in front of Hestor. The mage let out a whimper as he looked up as best he could and the Celestial Mage put his foot on the man’s chest and leaned over.

 

His lips curled into a dark smile, “you have been tried, you have been measured and you have been found wanting.” he stood and waved his free hand as if to say ‘get on with it’ and snorted as a large canine was dragging the man back towards the mages of White Sea.

 

The man lay there, shaking his head and started at a whistle. He looked relieved at the sound and slumped back on the ground more than he was already prone. Amidst cheers, the White Sea mages started out of the arena.

 

_“Just a bit dramatic.”_

 

Hestor looked up at Kaleb and arched an eyebrow, _“I should let them fight first...so yes, I shall be dramatic.”_

 

~)~)~)~)~

 

“They want what?” Hestor scowled as he put his fork down.

 

Kaleb rolled his eyes, “an interview.” he looked amused as the Celestial mage let out a disgusted and burdened sounding sigh, “I’ll be right there with you.”

 

Hestor stared at Kaleb, slowly arching an eyebrow, “The first touch...Ermine is attacking.”

 

“Noted and it will be passed on.”

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

 

“I’m sorry, would your pea sized brain like to engage its filter and allow you to ask a question that matters?” Hestor stared at the woman reporter across from him with as much disdain as he could muster.

 

The woman slowly blinked, “it is a...list of written in questions.”

 

The celestial mage leaned forward a bit, the weasel spirit on his shoulder ready at a moment’s notice, “we are not currently looking for a surrogate. Any plans for children is far off into the future.” his eyes narrowed, “something more relevant, please. Lest I walk out because I feel my IQ dropping by the second.”

 

Kaleb watched his mate, who had been in very rare, sarcastic form through the entire interview after his hand had been rapidly shook...and then not let go of. He’d watched the Mage stare at the hand that wouldn’t release darkly for nearly five minutes before the woman stopped gushing about how she was glad he’d taken the interview. Things hadn’t gone downhill that badly, until the woman asked about their ideas on surrogacy in the next few months. Then Hestor had turned sour.

 

“Ahem, right…” she flipped the page “One of our readers asks about your hair. Silver is not a common hair color, they asked if you magically dyed your hair.”

 

Hestor sat there for a moment and stood, “we’re done.” he stared at the woman as she started to talk and turned, mumbling darkly as he stalked out.

 

Kaleb shook his head, standing, “you may wish to tell your Editors to...find other questions if you wish to keep his interest.”

 

When the mindbender caught up with Hestor he could feel the ire and gently set his hand at Hestor’s lower back, “she didn’t mean anything. This was supposed to be a special with questions asked by the readers.”

 

Hestor slowly looked up at Kaleb, feeling his ire draining at the man’s touch and he let out a sigh, “I know...but...they got possibly thousands upon thousands of questions...and I am sure that many of them were not related to how I look, how we work together as a couple…” He ran a hand down his face and mumbled, “I’m hungry, I’m cranky and I want a nap.”

 

Kaleb chuckled, “I can deal with two of them during the lunch hour.”

 

Hestor arched an eyebrow, “we can take care of all three, really.”

 

“...i’m wondering when Ammit and Ma’at will start calling it abuse of the Hall.”

 

“Probably never,” Hestor smiled a bit as he leaned against the mindbender slightly.

 


	18. Playing with Fire and Ice

Attempt two at the interview that evening went a little better. To start, The reporter was male, not that Hestor was sexist...but women were **touchy** and that always set the man on edge. The reporter had an odd shade of hair that was a mix of teal and umber. Rather than move to shake Hestor’s hand, Kaleb noted, he motioned them into the suite where drinks were set out.

 

“Rumors have it you enjoy scotch,” The man said before he sat in a chair and motioned to the table.

 

Hestor arched an eyebrow as he slowly sat down, “Indeed.” Ermine twitched on his shoulder as he poured himself a bit of the liquid and sat back.  The weasel spirit walking down the man’s arm and sniffing the drink before sticking its head into the glass with what sounded like a happy trill. When the spirit turned and then zipped back to his shoulder, Hestor brought the glass to his lips, “I assume you’re not going to make the same mistake of asking inane questions that slowly drain my IQ.”

 

The man chuckled softly, “I’m really sorry about that. Indra is fairly new and apparently the Editor wanted to see how well she worked under fire.”

 

A silver brow slowly rose, “is that so.”

 

The man shrugged, “you are...one of the more difficult mages to get any information on, let alone pictures or interviews.” his lips quirked, “very good at managing to stand out...and yet be illusive at the same time. It’s quite the skill.”

 

“Flattery will get you positive points,” Hestor waved his free hand, “if you would?”

 

The man nodded as he pulled out a recording device and set it on the table before picking up his notebook, “if you don’t mind?”

 

“Not at all,” Hestor slowly sipped his drink as he leaned slightly against Kaleb, watching the man with a cool detachment.

 

The reporter nodded and turned the device on, “as you know, leading up to everything this year we asked our readers to write in with questions for the Guildmasters, their significant others or their first Lieutenants.” The man picked up a packet and then dropped it on the floor, “ninety percent of the questions for the two of you are related to your relationship and rather personal things.”

 

Hestor’s voice was bored, “oh, very aware.”

 

“The other ten percent...were questions about other things.” he sat there was Hestor’s eyebrow just stayed arched, “you’ve been one of two Celestial Mages that are practicing in the guilds. I’ll be completely honest, short of it being holder magic which, everyone in this room will agree on, is seen as a weaker magic...we don’t know much about it.”

 

Hestor’s nose curled a bit as he sat there, “Yes, Holder Magic can be seen as weak. That’s just how it is.” he let out a faint aggravated sound, “but we summon extraplanar beings. The amount of magic needed behind that is nothing to sneeze at.” he waved a hand, “For example, the typical A class mage would be hard pressed to summon a silver key, save for possibly the Nikoria, Ermine, Noctura or Columbia...and those are **companion** spirits.” he leveled a look at the reporter. “It takes a large reserve of magic to do so, but...it is also something that **every** Celestial Mage does, to grow their magic.”

 

The reporter frowned, “yes, but other mages train their bodies and mind, giving them more powerful reserves, are you saying that Celestial Mages are different?”

 

Hestor smirked as he sipped his drink, “yes.” the man tilted his head, “tell me, how does the average mage come into their power?”

 

The Reporter frowned, “Depending on the type...those that are not born into their magic...they learn from books, texts or mentors.”

 

“We’re born,” Hestor said, “while there are those that are not born Celestial Mages that do have a few keys they use for utility reasons, every one of the Celestial Mages that either are practicing in the world or teaching with it listed as their primary magic...were born with the ability.” he shrugged slightly, “Let’s take my guildmate, Lucy, for example, one of her golden keys drains the same amount of magic as a Dragon Slayer’s breath attack.”

 

The reporters eyes went a bit wide, “..that’s…”

 

“A lot of magic, yes,” Hestor said as he sat there, “we’re not weak, no one truly understands the scope.”

 

“...right…” The reporter took a breath, “...so...how many keys do you have?”

 

Hestor rolled his drink in his fingers slowly, “I will be hitting sixty on my next key. They’re rather hard to find, even silver keys. Many have been destroyed, or you have people with too much money using them as pieces in artefact collections, collecting dust.”

 

“Are you at liberty to discuss the different types of keys?”

 

“No,” Hestor said firmly, “next question.”

 

The man flipped through his book for a moment, “What dreams did you have as a young man?”

 

Hestor furrowed his brow as he sat there, sipping his drink and then pursing his lips, “to show the world that Celestial Mages aren’t weak.”

 

“I think you’ve somewhat shown that already,” The reporter realized that he’d get no additional information just by the look on the man’s face. The interview continued, the replies Hestor gave shorter than others, depending on the question and then the man sat back, realizing the man had plans for the next generation of mages overall that were of a broader scope than he thought would be possible for a single person. “I really would like to ask...one personal question, if you don’t mind?”

 

Hestor’s nose curled, “you may ask, I reserve the right to decline comment.”

 

The man nodded as he sat there, debating on how to ask the question, “we’ve all...seen White Sea in action, and the interactions you two specifically are having people...look back over what has been written, recorded and there’s a lot of speculation...but…” The man paused and took a breath, “how is it that you two actually got together?”

 

Hestor sat there for a moment, rolling his drink in his fingers, debating, “I nearly died.” he gave a faint smile, shrugging, “it’s moments like that emotions tend to take over and in the heat after that battle...we started our relationship. Is that sufficient.”

 

The reporter nodded, “Indeed. I do look forward to this Junior Guild program that you are going to be running...will it be extending to your sisterhood guild in Fiore.”

 

Hestor’s nose curled and he mumbled darkly before nodding, “they are most of the reason I’ve developed the program. Mages are mostly let run in Fiore, creating issues with anything from magic running amok to...every damn problem they have with Dark Guilds because they don’t have enough training to deal with them.” He shrugged slightly, “Bosco, Stella, Bellum, even Iceberg offer training assistance to their mages, helping them grow and learn in their magic...it’s about time that Fiorian mages got that…” his lips quirked into a dark smile, “...and if I get to watch mages cry in pain while they finally learn what a real workout is?”

 

The Reporter chuckled softly, shaking his head. If Kaleb Pradesh was the force of Light, the stability, Pride in oneself within White Sea, Hestor was the depths that the actual sea and oceans had, full of life, encouragement, but a soothing deepness that could swallow you whole if you didn’t listen to the whispers of encouragement to strive to be more and be better.

  


~)~))~)~)~

 

The second week came and the special interviews magazine came out, Vander blinked and then letting out a laugh, “oh...this is gonna be funny as hell. You’re really gonna try this?”

 

Hestor looked up as he finished his breakfast, “what? Whip Fairy Tail into shape? Someone has to. Fiore won’t, Laxus and Rowan can only do so much…” he waved his free hand, “i’ve a veritable army at my disposal...and some of them can’t wait to terrori...Train...the Fiorian mages.”

 

There was plenty of laughter and Vander snorted, “you mean terrorize. We all know they’re gonna.”

 

Hestor shrugged slightly, “If I have to be miserable and babysitting their asses, I’m going to make sure **they’re** miserable as well.” he finished his food and stood, picking up his coffee and sipping from it, “it all balances out.”

 

_“Are you going to be alright today?”_ Kaleb watched Hestor, the man hadn’t slept too soundly, in fact, they’d woken when a night terror had torn through the man.

 

Hestor took a breath and smiled as he walked to Kaleb and nodded, lightly kissing him, _“i’ll be fine. We knew it might happen. It’s been months.”_ He smirked a bit and winked, trying to put it behind him as best he could.

 

While he could have used a variety of spirits in three battles he’d done alone to this point; he’d relied on Kek-t and Abraxis due to simply having Kek-t the longest and Abraxis, Kaleb noted was a fast Spirit that called forth black flames. Seeing the male spirit and Hestor both aggressively using swords...well, Kaleb had to admit seeing Hestor worked up and overly aggressive always tended to get his blood burning, so much that he’d yanked the man to him and pressed him against the wall without a second thought, much to the cheers of the crowd.

 

Today he was wary though, this was the same Mage that had insulted Hestor the first fight. The celestial mage had been plotting a fitting punishment for the words and the fact that today was the day of reckoning, Kaleb wasn’t sure he wanted to even attempt to delve into the man’s head. The steel blue eyes looked dark, filled with Glee and his lips had a smirk on them that promised either a good show...or an utterly insane fist fight. He wasn’t sure which it would be yet.

 

~))~)~)~)~

 

“Who knew Celestial Mages had that much magic in them? It was a very interesting read,” The man looked across the field at Hestor, half scowling as the Celestial mage took a slice of apple from a plate a spirit held, “...a snack, really?”

 

“We are two fights before Lunch, are you telling me you aren’t hungry?” Hestor smirked as he licked his lips, “Thank you, Idunn.”

 

The Spirit looked across the field and smiled slowly, “you’re welcome, my sweet prince.”

 

Hestor adjusted the sleeves he wore, staring at the man, an explosion mage, rather well honed, if the information was correct.  His plan had been to call out Skadi and her wolves, but the dream made him wary to do it, not sure how it would affect him at this point. He bit the inside of his cheek lightly in thought. He went over more utility spirits and then watched the other man, however, he had promised Skadi she could participate, “well? Do you wish me to make the first move?”

 

“It would be a good handicap for you, so go ahead.”

 

Hestor’s voice purred, a dark tone, “oh, you should have not said that.” Magic flared as his eyes danced with a dark delight at being underestimated. “Ermine, Noctura, Grus, Pavo, Tucana, Phoenix.”

  


The spirits that appeared made everyone blink, they’d seen Ermine, the little weasel was one of his constant companions on the man’s right shoulder, Noctura was a slender man with a cape of brown owl feathers that matched his hair and deep eyes that were almost black; Grus seemed to curl out of the air in a shimmer of gold, the woman tall and slender with white hair that flowed as if on it’s own wind and a white kimono that fell to the ground and pooled; Pavo was a man with teal hair and dancing eyes, wearing a pair of black pants, boots and had a few peacock feathers in a headband, the toucan that appeared on Hestor’s left shoulder, letting out a loud sound that made people shiver. Phoenix was a tall man wearing a regal kimono and had flowing red, orange and yellow hair that just barely floated at the ends.

 

Many people realized that the man had essentially summoned an army with a few words and the man across from him narrowed his eyes, readying himself for whatever would come. He eyed the spirits warily as he held his hands out, magical symbols starting to swirl at his fingertips.

 

“Oh, I forgot someone I promised could come play today,” Hestor’s smile grew almost feral as he stood there, “Skadi.” it took all the celestial mage had to not shudder as the wolf howls resounded through the air and the Huntress appeared.

 

“Oh, my hunter, you remembered,” the female purred and looked across the field.

 

Hestor rolled his eyes, “This is the mage we discussed.”

 

The white haired female held out a hand of sticks, “everyone draw.”

 

There were grumbles as each spirit took one of the sticks and Skadi pouted a bit as Pavo grinned and held up the stick that said ‘lucky’ on it.

 

Pavo rolled his neck and cracked his knuckles “alri-” He stared as explosions curled around the group and Phoenix held out a hand, fingers flicking and watching as the flames just dissipated.

 

“Go on then, you drew the lucky lot,” The red haired male waved a hand in a shooing motion before Tucana was on his shoulder and Ermine went from brown and white to pure white as he leapt onto Skadi’s shoulder, making happy chittering sounds.

 

Pavo grinned as he started towards the mage and everyone saw a shimmer before the entire group of spirits was suddenly unseen. Hestor’s eyes danced as he slowly walked across the field and the entire crowd saw short swords curling out of requip in tendrils of golden magic, the man obviously pushing the magic on purpose. “We’re going to play a game…guess where my spirits are.” the silver haired man was rushing forward.

 

The first explosion went off and the mage let out a cheer, “got you-!”

 

Hestor rolled to the side, smoke coming from his side before his eyes flickered to the side and the man snapped his eyes towards where the mage was looking, only for Pavo to appear on the other side, tackling him. The man let out a sound as he was thrown to the side as another explosion went off under one of his feet. He rolled to his feet and snarled, slowly stalking towards the mage, a grimace of pain on his features.

 

“You see, Pavo deals in bending light around objects…” Hestor moved forward, his foot coming up and then slamming down by the mage’s head. He looked down at the man “it’s rather handy, you know.” he smirked as the spirit ‘disappeared’ again. He let out a grunt as the man surged up and the two were on the ground, Hestor hissing at being touched...and getting dirty.

 

Even if the two were mages, the scene was akin to a barroom brawl, the man not wanting to risk setting off his own explosions so close to himself and the Celestial mage just letting his annoyance and aggravation out with his fists.

 

Hestor took a breath and brought his foot up between them before pressing to knock the man off.  He was done; panting, aching, with at least a few bruised ribs and he was fairly certain at least a small fracture in his ankle.

 

When the now dirty Hestor stood, there was blood curling down his lip from his nose and he had quite a few bruises on his cheeks and jaw. The man spat to the side, making a face, “ugh...I think you loosened a tooth.”

 

“How in the hell-”

 

Hestor slowly arched an eyebrow, “what? Am I not running? Am I standing up to you?” his eyes narrowed as he took a sharp breath, “because we are not weak.” it looked almost like he was tensing to attack as wolf howls filled the arena, the pack of white wolves sliding from their ‘hiding’ and starting to curl around the two.

 

Kaleb could **feel** Hestor’s fear that had risen from the dream that morning, the man had gone a bit stiff and he pursed his lips as he slowly took a few steps backwards. The mindbender carefully watched his mate, waiting to see what was going to happen.

 

“Yes, we are very, very few in number,” Hestor watched the man, taking a breath and slowly starting to walk to the side, “but those of us left? We’re survivors, we’ve survived incident after incident that should have left us dead, we’ve found those that we know we can trust to be there, to help us….” He motioned towards the Balcony that housed the White Sea Mages, “and they, those we stand by, are proud of **us** , not our magic.” his head tilted up a bit, “the next move is yours.”

 

The other mage narrowed his eyes, then smirked as the air in front of Hestor exploded, sending the mage flying back, right into another explosion that had him falling forward. One of the white wolves came out of thin air, letting out a growl and half catching the Celestial Mage. Kaleb felt the man’s mind freeze. He held his breath as he watched, knowing the spirits would work on their own, but his worry was the silver haired man.

 

_“Breathe.”_ Kaleb pushed the command across Hestor’s mind and the man gasped in, fingers curling into the white fur before he let out a feral snarl. The eyes that snapped up were glowing as his lip curled back.

 

Hestor slowly rose to his feet as the air in the arena seemed to shimmer. Everyone could see the man’s breath, despite the heat of the day, then frost seemed to curl out from the wolf before it twisted and shifted, pale skin appearing on the underside of the wolf as red and white hair started to fall. Within a few seconds, Skadi stood there, hand held out as the temperature started to plummet.

 

Kaleb’s eyes went wide as he saw the other mage’s breath start to appear, but Hestor’s seemed to disappear as he panted.

 

“What...the...hell,” The man stood, eyes narrowing as he brought his magic to bear and shot out a burst of magic.

 

Skadi smirked as she stood there, a bloom of magic as suddenly there were icy spikes slamming up through the ground. “Submit.”

 

Kaleb was the first to realize it, the spikes had come up around Hestor and he could see the man floating just a bit off the ground. This was what the man was afraid of: the keys taking over his mind if things got too bad. Kalperdan had pointed out that one of the books was actually on the different bloodlines of Celestial Mages, and Hestor’s family, because of being blood bound to the Hall, did this.

 

Kaleb pursed his lips, pulling at their bond, he could feel Hestor barely aware, _“do you need me down there?”_

 

_“A bit cold…”_

 

The Mindbender didn’t waste time, pulling at their bond and flinching at the cold inside the cage. He carefully let his hands go out, sliding to cradle Hestor’s face and bring their foreheads together.  He pushed away the feel of the chill and knew that Hestor was decently good at handling this when Modgud was around. He took a deep breath and slowly let his magic curl into his mate, feeling the man slowly warming and the eyes slowly becoming clear.

 

Skadi’s lips had a feral smile on them as she slowly stalked towards the man, hand moving out to grab him by the throat as he shivered from the chill, “Submit?”

 

The man gave a wide eyed nod, feeling colder than he thought was possible, not sure he could even speak. Then it seemed like the cold was just gone, Hestor letting out a frosty breath as he looked up at Kaleb, half collapsing against him and curled himself into the other’s body. He let out a shuddering breath and a hum, feeling the warmth of the other curling into him as well as the aches and pains.

 

_“...we’re going to have to find out how to make that not happen, you know.”_

 

_“Mm. yes, kiss now, problems later. We can disappear until after lunch, yes?”_ Hestor’s hands curled dragging Kaleb into a kiss as he let out a sound of small relaxation even as white and blue flames curled around them.

 

Kaleb pulled back, arching an eyebrow as he looked down at Hestor, _“do I want to know?”_

 

_“I want you to help me warm up.”_ Hestor shrugged slightly, pushing an image of the other sprawled out beneath him and arching off the bed to the mindbender. _“You don’t mind...do you?”_

  
  
Kaleb let out a low growl before pulling the other man into a heated kiss, the two parting to cheers of the crowd. He couldn’t help but murmur, “well, I think everyone knows who you let touch you.”

  
  
  



	19. a New Era Dawning

Kaleb could almost feel the maniacal laughter coming from his mate. The honeymoon and the family week had gone well, but then...then the laughter had started as Hestor started making plans to go ‘help’ get Fairy Tail in order. In Fact, Kek-t, Ma’at and Ammit were sitting at different places in his office and staring at the pocket door that lead to Hestor’s office almost warily.

 

When they were wary, the mindbender had to wonder what was going on. He slowly stood and moved to open the door, “...hes?”

 

Hestor blinked and stopped the dark laughter that was bubbling in his throat. Yes, Kaleb realized that someone had thoroughly pissed Hestor off, but he couldn’t figure out what. The Celestial mage smiled “yes, Kaleb?”

 

“...are you...alright?” He slowly stepped towards his mate, keeping his movements slow as he was quite unsure exactly what had set the man off.

 

Hestor’s lips were curled in a dark smile, “Natsu told Rowan that I could fuck off and he wasn’t going through the training program.”

 

Right. Natsu. He let out a faint sigh. The dragon slayer was a pain in the ass on a good day and a wild card any other time. He moved to carefully draw Hestor into his arms, “are you going to be alright?”

 

Hestor looked up at Kaleb, eyes dancing with dark glee, “no, I’m going to destroy him.”

 

Kaleb very well knew that Hestor would follow through with that...though he wasn’t sure what type of ‘destroying’ of Natsu he’d do, “well, I’ll be there on the weekend...try to not...kill anyone.”

 

“I will make them wish they were dead, but I will not commit murder,” Hestor nuzzled into Kaleb’s chest, letting out a soft sigh as he stood there.

 

“Promise?” Kaleb smirked at the offended sound from the other man. He couldn’t help asking the question...and it was always a good way to make sure that nothing went too far.

 

Hestor debated on saying ‘no’ just because he wasn’t sure how stubborn the moronic fire dragon slayer was, but after a moment of being soothed by Kaleb, he nodded, “fine, I promise. I won’t kill him.”

  
  
  


~)~)~)~)~)~)~

 

Hestor stared down  Natsu, daring the slightly shorter man to say anything. He slowly arched an eyebrow as he stood there, “excuse me.”

 

“Like I told laxus, Fuck you,” The dragon slayer glowered as he stood there, “I don’t need some stupid trai-”

 

Hestor’s eyes narrowed as he slammed a hand out suddenly, palm open and the dragon slayer went falling backwards. Before he got up, the man had a foot on his chest “You do, you are a mouthy, infantile, hot headed, loose cannon.” His steely eyes narrowed and he saw the inhale before he was shifting back, “Skadi!”

 

The fire that streamed out of the slayers mouth curled up and Hestor hissed, the spirit looking up and making a face before snow started to swirl and the flames eventually went out. Hestor stood there, breath very visible in the air, “that was uncalled for.”

 

Natsu flipped to his feet, letting out a low growl and lunged forward. Hestor let out a hiss as his hand went out and he grabbed the incoming wrist, spinning and then twisting to yank the hand up and behind the slightly smaller male. The growled sound that came out of the pinkette filled the air, “Let me go, asshole!”

 

“That is  **Master** Asshole, Dragoneel. I am Co-Master of White Sea, your sister guild,” The Celestial mage hissed in the slayer’s ear, “you will respect me, or I will  **beat** respect into you.”

 

“You’re a holder ma-” Natsu’s eyes went wide as there was a dagger at his throat.

 

Hestor’s voice was low and dangerous, “go ahead, finish that statement. I will not Tolerate the disrespect that you seem to spew. Your guildmaster is sick of it and do not even think for a half a damn second that we would allow you, or half of the people here, with their lack of respect, to visit Bosco and the White Sea Guildhall.” The man ignored the insulted sounds from around the guildhall.

 

Hestor shoved Natsu away, the dagger going back into requip space and he looked around, “I don’t care if all of you hate me.” he gave them all even looks, “Fiore has allowed you to run wild, however with the sisterhood, what you do reflects upon White Sea.” His voice went cold enough that even Gray Shivered, “that is unacceptable. So-” When fire raged towards him, the temperature suddenly plummeted and a spike of ice came up out of the ground, blocking it, “- go ahead and bitch all you want. I’ve read the reports.”

 

Skadi watched the two as she leaned against the bar, arms crossed under her chest as she waited. She looked less than impressed or pleased, by her general demeanor.

 

“You’re not going to take the fun out of Fairy Tail, asshole,” Natsu growled as his hands had fire haloing them.

 

Hestor arched an eyebrow, “what is your fun? Brawls in the guildhall?” he rolled his eyes, “Those are present in White Sea but we do not  **destroy** everything in sight. We carry ourselves with dignity. We carry ourselves with respect for our Guild, with Respect for ourselves.” 

 

When the next volley of fire came, Hestor’s eyes narrowed and then went wide when he saw the young girl. Without a thought, he sprang forward, grabbing her and letting out a cry of pain as he was blown forward and kept himself around the girl. Everything hurt, ached and he tugged at the bond. They could get a teleport mage to take Kaleb back, but right now? Right now Hestor needed him there.

 

When Kaleb appeared, his eyes narrowed and then he looked at his mate before letting out a low growl and Natsu was staring, mouth open and with wide eyes as the bright gold wings batted aside a ball of fire, “Do you see what you did?” his voice was a low, firm tone.

 

Natsu narrowed his eyes a bit, composing himself as he tried to figure out what was going in with these mages, “...guild fight?”

 

“Hestor would not be curled around a  **child** if it was just a guild fight,” Kaleb’s eyes glowed brightly as he forced the slayer to his knees.

 

Hestor slowly sat up and hissed in pain, “she was running for her toy.” he looked at the girl, “what is your name?”

 

The girl slowly blinked, “Asuka….are you okay, Mister...er Master?”

 

Hestor smiled faintly as he stood, pain lancing through his back. He’d taken the brunt of the attack trying to keep the girl from harm, “You may call me Hestor, Asuka. Are you unharmed?” when she nodded, he carefully limped to the bar and sat her on a barstool. The man looked at Mira, “get her some juice.” his voice was as firm as he could keep it.

 

Mira gave a nod and rushed to get the girl a glass of juice as Hestor stiffly moved to get the ball that the girl had been going for, he then went back to the girl and held it out, watching as she took it.

 

Asuka grinned up at the silver haired man, “Thank you, Mister Hestor!”

 

The man stood there for a moment and then ruffled her hair lightly, “watch around you.” He turned and moved to Kaleb, laying a hand against the other man’s arm and looked at Natsu, “you could have killed more than one person in the span of the last five minutes. You need to train on control.”

 

“Fuck you,” Natsu growled as he sat there, struggling to stand.

 

Hestor arched an eyebrow, “Married, thank you, but no, you are also much too...everything I detest for my tastes..” He let out a low hum as he felt Kaleb’s arm around him and then the soothing flames curling through him, knowing the healing would soon enough leave his body fine, “we need to set up runes.”

 

Kaleb nodded and then nodded towards the green haired man on the balcony, “Freed.”

 

The Rune mage blinked as he stared at the two, “...yes?”

 

Hestor looked at the green haired mage for a moment, studying him, “you have a task.”

 

Many had not been happy with Hestor coming in, talking to Laxus for a little while and then coming out, laying down a new Law that they would have to follow. Freed didin’t mind and Bickslow had grinned at him. Hestor knew Bickslow would be up to something, but he would deal with that when it came.

 

“Yes, Master Hestor?” The man slowly stood and walked down the stairs slowly.

 

Hestor tilted his head slightly, studying the man, “The Guildhall is going to need rune enchantments. I will talk with you in my temporary office in twenty minutes.” He slowly let his steely eyes scan the crowd of mages, “Things will change. There is nothing wrong with having fun and living hard, I’m Boscan, I understand that, but there  **is** something wrong with putting those around you in harm’s way.”

 

“Big talk when you’ve got him at your si-” Natsu didn’t get too far in what he was saying before Hestor’s leg was up and he kicked the slayer in the chest hard enough to send him sprawling.

 

“He is here because  **you** hurt me,” Hestor hissed, “Because your wildness caused an injury that needed tending to!” He put his foot on the slayer’s neck, not pressing down, but the threat was there.

 

“Hey…” 

 

Steely eyes snapped towards the voice and he narrowed them on, if he recalled, an Ice-Make Mage named Gray Fillibuster, “yes?”

 

The man stood there, “...flametard’s...pretty dumb...but...I mean…”

 

Hestor looked at Gray for a long moment and then spoke in a firm voice, “Rules might be a pain, but with the New Fiorian Council in place, the New Rune Knights, The New Magic Council...things will need to change. You cannot continue how you have been, because I’ve seen the new Charter Rules for Mage Guilds.” He looked around slowly, “None of you may like it, but...change is needed. I will discuss the new Rules this afternoon and allow all of you to see the danger that can come.”

 

Gray pursed his lips, “...how bad we talking?”

 

“More than two consecutive Missions where the mages create destruction that would not be covered by the mission payment and the guild will be fined, heavily. The new Council is not playing around,” Hestor spoke firmly, “Second offense, thirty days in jail for the mage in question. Third? The Mage loses their Guild Membership.”

 

“They can’t-” Natsu snarled and then choked as a bit of pressure was put against his throat.

 

Hestor pursed his lips, “They can and will. Fiore has seen too many magical incidents that have caused major destruction. The new council is not just Gentry. The king will help make decisions until he abdicates the throne and then Fiore will be a fully Council Run country. They want   **everyone** safe, no matter who it is...and they’re going to start cracking down in exactly six months.” He took a breath, “This is a  **real** threat to your Guild, whom you all call family. Not only will they eventually take legal action against the guild...too many incidents will lead to disbandment...and even the Sisterhood with White Sea cannot save this guild..”

 

Kaleb arched an eyebrow, knowing what Hestor had been studying the last few days now. The man had asked a few cursory questions, but overall, he’d not bothered to really worry much why the man was looking into Laws.

 

Gray looked down as he stood there and then back up, “...we clean up shit…”

 

“You clean up your acts, you start acting like mages instead of hooligans...and your guild will be fine,” Hestor slowly looked around, “Fiore, until now, has treated many guilds as..essentially orphanages for Mages with no families...it’s time you all showed pride in your bearing and mannerisms.” he slowly walked away from Natsu and then smiled at Kaleb,  _ “thank you. I’m sorry...I…” _

 

_ “You made the right call, _ ” Kaleb smiled softly at Hestor and then gently cupped the man’s cheek.

 

Gray pursed his lips, “wait...are you two...married?”

 

Both Boscans turned to look at the ice-make mage, Hestor snorting, “Gods, tell me your not going to have an issues with that…”

 

Gray shook his head, “no, it’s just...i mean...There’s Laxus and Rowan, but that’s a dragon slayer thing…”

 

Hestor could feel the headache already and sighed, “...i don’t think I can trust Vander to help with a social normalities lecture…” he brought a hand up, slowly rubbing his forehead, “we’ll get it all sorted...so that everyone can understand.”

 

“Mister Hestor?”

 

The man half turned to look at Asuka, “yes, Asuka?”

 

“How do you two have babies?”

 

He couldn’t snap at the child “we’re not ready, but when we are, we will find a surrogate.”

 

“What’s a sur-ro-gate?”

 

The silver haired man smiled and kissed Kaleb’s cheek before walking towards the girl, “well, In Bosco, because we are a country of freedom, when two people of the same Gender love one another and want a family, they speak to a special group of people that help them by finding someone of the opposite gender to help them have a child.”

 

“Oh….” Asuka pursed her lips, looking half confused, “don’t Mommys and Daddys and...Daddies...and then Mommies do that soon after they get married?”

 

Hestor shook his head, “not in Bosco, some couples do, some wait until they feel they are ready...and some never do, content to be with their other half and only their other half.”

 

Kaleb came up behind Hestor and smiled softly at the girl, “Inquisitive.”

 

Hestor snorted and then nodded, “Ermine?” 

 

Asuka’s eyes lit up at the creature that appeared, “CUTE!”

 

The Celestial Mage clicked his tongue and pat the curiously chittering animal on the head, “This is Asuka, if you would, keep her company for the day.”  The weasel nodded before bounding down Hestor’s shoulder and onto the bar. 

 

Hestor slowly looked around, “we will have a guild meeting at Noon tomorrow to discuss changes. No one is to leave on a mission.”

 

“Hey, Master Hestor?”

 

Hestor slowly turned to look at the young man, Romeo. The boy was semi-competitive and had done well learning to better himself through the exchange program, “Yes, Romeo?”

 

“You’re not as Creepy as you used to be,” The boy grinned and when Hestor saw the amusement in the eyes before he asked the question, he should have known something cheeky was coming.

 

The Celestial Mage watched the boy for a moment and turned, stalking towards the stairs, “Freed! My Office!”

 

_ “...are you going to be alright?” _ Kaleb was trying to hide his amusement at the exchange.

 

_ “Go back, I think i’ve got this now…” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> For those that don't understand what Romeo is talking about...in Star, he pretty much called Hestor Creepy in Chapter 19 of Star of Bosco....
> 
> Had to include something about that somewhere XD
> 
> For those that want to argue: Nastu fights wildly, Hestor is Trained in Fighting. a Trained fighter will almost always be able to take on a simple barroom brawler. (I also rolled dice as if I was doing a CMB/CMD Check for that interaction, Hestor Made it.)


	20. Planar travel can suck

Kaleb had woken in the dead of the night, feeling empty. His eyes narrowed as he shot out of bed, feeling along the different mental connections he had and while he found the bond with Hestor there...it ended in a sort of empty void. He’d sent Vander to check on things in magnolia because his brother would be the best to do so without setting Hestor off. He loved his mate, but he did have his pride and it honestly lead him to being irrational at times.

 

His first order was to send people to magnolia. He wanted to go on his own, but if something was wrong, he didn’t want to fall into whatever had gotten his mate. It made him angry that he couldn’t, but even tugging at the bond, attempting to drag the other to him got him nothing, not even the familiar resistance.  As he drug his robe around him and slid into a pair of lounge pants, he drew himself up, eyes narrowing as he went through what he could feel and as he stood on the balcony as the sun rose, he could, just then, feel an almost...manic distress through his bond with Hestor. Those first rays of daylight were the only time he could feel the other...and he had hoped at first the other had felt him, but as the feelings from the brief moments went on through the time they tried to figure it all out, it was obvious that he didn’t.

 

It was taking all the restraint that he had to be able to keep himself calm, especially with Lucy in no better straights with Vander’s link to her in the same state...and his nephew Gabriel was being…’grouchy’ for lack of a better term, and, of course, because he was grouchy, Ganier was grouchy...and those two children being grouchy were a test on the whole family.

 

He had sent Beck, Rowan and Gaza to look into it, along with Cris in hopes of getting some answers...and they were not the answers that he had wanted. The entire city of magnolia was...gone...strange almost uprooted ground with lacrama shards everywhere.

 

The worst part was that Kaleb simply couldn’t sleep. He’d tried, had resorted to having Cris put him to sleep when three days of searching Magnolia had gotten the team no where...now he was just getting to the end of his own rope, especially that morning when he felt the near insanity from that momentary flicker from the bond he had with Hestor.

 

~)~)~)

 

When the mindbender actually **felt** Hestor, he didn’t bother to do anything but yank on that bond, using every ounce of force he could. He didn’t care about anything other than soothing what was a mind that was in turmoil. Kaleb let out a few soft, soothing sounds as he was half scaled and clung to, arms around the other and buried his head into the silver hair.

 

The Celestial mage clung. Hestor felt the bond, felt the other and after almost two weeks without that reassurance to his magic and emotions, he wasn’t letting go. His fingers were buried in the platinum hair and he murmured, “thank the stars, we’re back.”

 

Kaleb smiled softly as he slowly carried the other out of his office, nodding to Thane, “we’ll be occupied the rest of the day.”

 

“Yes, Master Kaleb,” The aid smiled, it was good to have the other man back...hopefully they both would get rest and be able to soothe each other.

  


~)~)~)~)~)~

 

Walking into the guildtop home, Kaleb shut the door behind him and walked straight to the bedroom, not letting the clinging man go and not arguing with it. He drew the curtains to block out the light before carefully taking the other to the bathroom to get cleaned up, “hes...come on, let’s get undressed.”

  
  
Hestor let out a low whine and it took a few minutes of coaxing before the celestial mage let him go, then he carefully helped the other undress before filling the tub, gently running his hands along the other’s shoulders.

 

“What happened?” He spoke softly, he was worried, grateful the other was back, but worried about how fast the other’s mind was spinning with thoughts and emotions that had him bothered.

 

“It was horrible,” Hestor said softly before he was helped into the tub and waited, curling against Kaleb near instantly, “There was another me...and he was a manwhore and women kept pushing against me, propositioning me.”

 

Kaleb wanted to chuckle, but he knew how the other man valued his personal space, “I’m going to guess...that got old quick.”

  
  
Hestor nodded a bit as he sat there, fingers moving to the other’s hair, “and you were happily in Joya...with Sydelle...Kurino was **nice**.” the man shuddered, “that Vander was a virgin priest…” his eyes unfocused, “..magic was barely there.” he buried his face in the other’s neck and mumbled, “and I couldn’t feel you...I felt...so alone…”

 

Kaleb gently curled his arms around the other, slowly running his hands along the other’s arms, “it’s fine, i’m here now…you’re here now...”

 

The silver haired man nodded and just curled up a bit more, relaxing in the water but refusing to let go of the other. He took a few deep breaths, just letting himself get lost in the soothing spiced apple scent of the mindbender.

 

Kaleb could hear the frantic mind slowing and relaxing and he smiled, feeling his own magic settle. He wondered if what he’d felt, that odd almost insanity, was anything even partially close to what feeling the other actually die would feel like...and if it was even a tenth of what he would feel, he was not going to allow any harm to come to the man he loved.

 

When Hestor finally calmed down enough for rational thought, the two took time, letting hands roam as they cleaned one another, reacquainting themselves with innocent and not so innocent touches. Kaleb brushed Hestor’s hair back after rinsing it, “bet-”

 

The man didn’t get to finish the sentence as magic swirled around them and he knew exactly where they were going. He could feel the other’s need to reconnect in all ways.

 

~)~)~))~)~)~)~)

 

Cris pursed his lips as he sat in Kaleb’s office on a large chair, tapping his foot. It had been three days since he’d gotten the report that Hestor and the others were back...and three days since his brother and his mate had...disappeared.  The Slayer knew the two had taken ‘extra’ personal time like this before...but never quite so long.

 

He picked up a recording device, “Day Three of Kaleb and Hestor watch. Still no sign of them, past the smell of stardust that has faded within the guildmaster suite. We continue to wait...adjusting for the time differences that they will have.” He set the device down and shook his head, then arched an eyebrow as he felt magic fill the air and couldn’t help but sneeze at the heavy smell of stardust. “Welcome back.”

 

Kaleb blinked slowly, “Cris.”

  
  
The dragon slayer arched an eyebrow, “...so..three days, huh?”

 

Hestor let out a low sound, nuzzling the mindbender’s jaw lightly before looking at Cris and the slayer could see clarity in the steel blue eyes, and a light blush on his cheeks, “...sorry, we needed...a lot of time to make up for those almost two weeks.”

 

Cris took in both of them and then slowly shook his head. The bite marks were evident, there were fading and new ones and both looked far more content than he’d give credit to two people that had an empty bond for any amount of time. “How are you feeling?”  
  
Hestor let out a low hum and purred as he walked to the bay window and curled into it, the smile on his lips soft, “Content, loved, reconnected...a bit sore on both our parts...needing to buy some rope...”   
  
Kaleb chuckled softly, “we’re much better now, Cris, sorry if we worried you...once we got clean when he got back…” he shrugged, “we spent time reconnecting in all ways.”

 

The Slayer could see the contentment in both of them, a deep contentment and connection now. Not that they’d not been working on it before now...but this extended time had helped greatly and he didn’t have to be any sort of empath to see that the doubts that had been nagging at them, worries over little things, were gone. “You might want to call Dad, let him know you’re back.”

 

Hestor let out a low hum, “right.”

 

When Kaleb picked up his com to call Arman, it was a small conversation, the man worried and checking on the two, making sure they were alright...then the entire room when silent when hestor spoke again.

 

“we’ll...entertain a list of surrogates...but it won’t be until after we deal with the bifrost keys.”

 

_“...I’ll get a list as soon as possible.”_

 

Hestor let out a low hum, “you should probably also contact the Xings...they will toss a fit if they’re not included in helping with the list.” he smiled faintly at the happy tone that was in the older man’s voice, “but...we won’t do it until the test of these keys is over...so this is just...preparatory work.”

 

 _“I understand,_ ” Arman’s voice was happy, though firm.

 

Hestor looked at Kaleb and Cris saw the softness in the normally hard eyes that went beyond the normal looks. They must have spent a lot of time talking during their ‘vacation’ and it had brought them to the point that they were at least entertaining starting a family.

 

Kaleb smiled “we’ll talk soon, Dad, Family dinner is in a few days, don’t rush on that, just take your time, you’ve got time, we’ve got time...we’ve got quite a few keys to go.”

 

“So...ready for a family almost, huh?” Cris grinned as he sat back, watching the com be set aside.

 

Hestor slowly looked at Cris, “we took almost a month to reconnect...and discuss what we want for our future.”  he shrugged, “so we will see what happens, see how long it takes to get these keys...and then go from there. I won’t risk anything until these keys are done with their tests.”

 

“Yeah, I can tell you took almost a month,” Cris grinned, “because seriously those are some fresh and old marks on both of you.”

 

~)~)~)~)~)~)

  


Hestor was meditating, though most wouldn’t realize it. He wasn’t doing it for his magic, but for his mind, letting it center and just relax into a calmness. He took deep breaths as he let his mind focus on just his breathing as he sat in his retreat room, just letting himself fall into the proverbial darkness of the deep toned room around him. He wasn’t sure what he was going to need to do, there was too much to do, if he was honest, but...he didn’t want to leave, even to deal with Fairy Tail...not after that little ‘trip’ that he’d taken.

 

Even with the time that they’d taken for themselves, he felt the urge to not go too far from Kaleb. He licked his lips and sighed as he leaned back and just looked up. His mind was far too active for meditation, but he’d hoped that perhaps he would have been able to. With a frustrated groan, he let himself lay back on the plush dark rug and pursed his lips as he sighed.

 

He was...feeling anxious. Five keys. One was the wolf...and he was scared to death of the wolf. The Celestial Mage let out a soft sigh as he lay there, hand reaching up towards the velvet star chart on the wall and he let out a low mumble as he attempted to figure out exactly what had him bothered. He absently let a pointed finger trail along the different stars on the map, mumbling to himself in thought.

 

Hestor stood and went to his bookshelf, mumbling as he searched through the tomes for a moment before plucking the one up that he’d found to talk about the bifrost keys. He opened it and paced, mumbling to himself before he kept flipping through the pages and then pursed his lips. He looked between the star chart on the wall and his book, tilting his head and narrowing his eyes before he reached out and traced a few places.  He snapped the book shut, “Halloween.”

 

He nodded to himself and took a breath, “...Halloween. One will show up then.” he just hoped...it would wait until after the job he had already agreed to. He felt the anxiousness bubbling again and tugged, not sure where Kaleb was, but he didn’t care at the moment, he needed held.

  
  


~)~)~))~)~)~

 

Kaleb blinked as he banked and felt the tug on the bond, right before grunting as he felt a body hit his back. He dipped and it took a moment to adjust before he felt the arms around his shoulders, “what’s wrong?”

 

Zen snorted as he watched, “c’mon, Hes, we’re doing flight practice, what’s so important?”

 

Hestor narrowed his eyes on Zen and then leaned his head down, biting Kaleb’s neck with a possessive growl. He held on though as the two moved to land and then let himself drop to the ground, shaking his head, “nothing is wrong..but...a key should show up around Halloween.”

 

Both archangels’ brows shot up, Zen speaking calmly, “Are you sure?”

 

The celestial mage shrugged, “not really, it’s a guess, but...the best I can come up with.” he snorted, “but that’s all I can do: guess. There’s little really on these keys...or even if the keys will call to me…”

 

Kaleb nodded, “and you have that mission you accepted at the theatre, which practice starts soon, doesn’t it?”

 

The silver haired man narrowed his eyes and let out a low growl, “I still think both you and Beck set me up.”

 

Kaleb shook his head, “I would…”

 

Hestor crossed his arms on his chest as Kaleb trailed off, making a face and heard Zen chuckled, “mmhmmm….”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> so...if you're keeping up on all the Starverse stories...this goes along with Chapter 7 (and 8) of Divine Fire


	21. Halloween Fun Time

Vander stared at Kaleb and then motioned to the theater they were going to, “why was  **I** not chosen! I’m the better choice!”

 

“They requested Hestor specifically, they do every year, but normally behind the scenes work,” Kaleb arched an eyebrow at his brother. They’d had this argument for weeks and while he was glad his brother seemed to have settle some, he was still Vander.

 

“He better look fucking  **fabulous** in those damn fishnets, or I’m gonna be pissed,” Vander scowled and then shook his head, “Because seriously. It should have been me.”

 

Kaleb rolled his eyes and patted Vander’s shoulder, “mhm, of course. Nevermind that the character is pale to start...”

 

“I’d still be better,” Vander sniffed as they walked into the theater.

 

~)~)~))~

 

Vander sat there as people filtered out, looking thoughtful, “...I may have to borrow him for a few missions…”

 

Kaleb rolled his eyes slightly, “Be good, Van.”

 

Vander looked at Kaleb and grinned, “he can dance in heels...and well. I’m so taking advantage of that.”

 

“I shant be doing anything that you are thinking of enlisting me to help with,” Hestor appeared next to them, straightening the cuffs on an ornate blue jacket before straightening the cravat he wore. A silver eyebrow arched as he crossed his legs and looked at Vander, “Seeing as I heard you have been complaining about this for weeks, I shall assume you found my performance good?”

 

“Well, not as good as  **I** would have been, but...yeah, you were okay,” Vander grinned as he leaned forward, “so yanno…”

 

Hestor stood, “Right, well, we have a Halloween party to get to, correct?” 

 

Vander grinned, “yup! Gotta go get changed and shit.”

 

“You three doing matching outfits?” Hestor tilted his head as Kaleb stood, the man moving to lean against the mindbender’s side as they started out of the theater.

 

Vander shrugged, “I have no clue, Stardust’s handling it so…”

 

Kaleb chuckled, “that means that yes, you three will have some sort of theme in your costumes.”

 

“Mmhmm,” Hestor said as they walked, “Lucy will be by to do your hair in a little while with your costume.”

 

Kaleb slowly blinked, “what? I was going to wear my guild re-”

 

Hestor slowly looked up at Kaleb, “no, you have a costume that matches mine.”

 

Vander took the other in for a moment, “...that’s…” The shadowquip grinned and slapped Kaleb on the shoulder, “Good luck!”   
  
The mindbender watched his brother go and then looked at hestor as they continued to walk, “...what in the world did you two do?”   
  


Hestor purred as he looked up at the other, “I get to finally see  **you** in a dress.”

  
  


~)~)~)~)~)~

  
  


“How did you find this much...Everything?” Kaleb just stared at himself in the dress, then to the grinning pair of Celestial Mages, the brown hair was only for the night and he could deal with that, relatively speaking...it was the ballgown that he was half stymied about.

 

“Virgo!” Lucy chirped as she stood there, studying Kaleb critically for a moment. “Well, my work here is done...now to go and dress Van, Zen and the twins up!”

 

Hestor smiled and nodded “Alright, have fun.”   
  
“Why are there two pairs of shoes?” Kaleb arched an eyebrow as Hestor came back from seeing Lucy to the door.

 

Hestor smiled “Flats for now...later you’ll put the heels on.” His eyes danced, “you in heels is for my eyes only.” He slid up to the other and let his hands curl up, curling around Kaleb’s shoulders and purring, “you look wonderful.”

 

Kaleb chuckled softly as he leaned down, kissing the other lightly, “it has nothing to do with the stockings and garter belt i’ve got on under this?”

 

Hestor smirked as his arms curled down, fingers finding the mindbender’s ass through the dress and squeezing, “that’s a perk I am  **very** glad for.”

 

The mindbender let out a purr as he drew the other into a kiss, drawing the other against his body. When they finally parted from a series of languid kisses, he looked at the other for a long moment, “do I get a reward for this?”

 

The Celestial mage let out a low hum as he looked up at the other man for a moment, “we’ll see. Though, I think this is more my reward.”

 

~)~)~)~)~)~

  
  


Kaleb hadn’t been sure about the costume, but he felt the delight from Hestor and that was more than enough to indulge his mate….and being a Judge in the Costume Contest meant he didn’t have to actually get on the stage, neither of them did. Cris’ tarzan outfit as the third judge had made him shake his head.

 

The multitude of costumes that came across the stage almost made Kaleb wish that there weren’t quite so many creative mages in his guild, but at the same time, he could feel Hestor’s amusement and distaste over some of them as they checked off scores and the large Lacrama screens put up a ranking without the score, so no one really  knew how many points were given, but it did give rather ‘comical’ comments from the judges as they tried to figure out some of the costumes.

 

The Prizes were simple monetary ones, but it had gotten people excited...and creative. It also apparently didn’t help that he was sitting there in a large poofy ball gown.  Hestor watched ahead of them and sipped his drink, “don’t be so upset, you look amazing.”   
  
Cris grinned, “he does.” He leaned forward a bit, looking at Hestor, “who made it?”   
  
“Virgo, apparently Lucy wanted to make the costumes, she wouldn’t say why though,” Hestor tilted his head and looked at Kaleb, arching an eyebrow in amusement.

 

Kaleb chuckled, “you know why, I think you act this way on purpo…” He trailed off, “what is Rowan dressed as?”

 

Hestor snorted softly, “you have to guess. I’m not saying.” He grinned slightly and put in his answer before putting it down so the man couldn’t see what he’d inputted, “no poking about in my head either.”   
  
~)~)~)~)~)~)

 

When the Contest was done, there were cheers for the winners and Hestor smirked as they stood, watching everyone relax and enjoy the evening. He arched an eyebrow when he saw Lucy, Zen and Vander, dressed up like a gothic twisted Dorothy, some twisted over fluffed version of the Cowardly Lion and a twisted version of the scarecrow...Ganier wearing a little uniform that made her look like a flying money was cute...but Gabriel in a striped onesie made no sense.

 

“I have brought the toby!” Lucy grinned as she held the boy out.

 

Hestor slowly arched an eyebrow and snorted as he took the child, “I suppose this will do, why however?”

 

Vander shrugged, “it was that, a little tinman...or toto...and none of us were thrilled with those ideas...so you got a Toby.”

 

“I’m in a ball gown made of more taffeta than I thought could be put into a single dress...and he gets a baby?” Kaleb arched an eyebrow, absently adjusting the bottom half of the sleeves to the dress. He truthfully didn’t want to touch the large...poofs that were the top half, afraid that something bad would happen. 

 

Lucy looked over and hummed as she tilted her head, “I think Virgo did good at the dress...we even had to borrow Hestor’s copy of the movie so she could make it as accurate as possible.” She pouted a bit, “are you saying you don’t like the gift?” she tilted her head, bottom lip jutting out a bit more.

 

“I am attempting to figure out why I have six layers of skirt fabric...when I am completely sure that most of it isn’t needed,” Kaleb slowly arched an eyebrow at the small blonde.

 

“Virgo,” She blinked at him, looking innocent, “that’s all I know.” Lucy shrugged, “we’re going to take a few hours, then we’ll be back for Gabe..unless he gets fussy, then let us know.”

 

The couple watched the family walk off and Hestor looked down at Gabriel, the boy looking up and then letting out a squeal as he kicked his legs. “Mmhmm, of course. Let’s get you something to chew on.”   
  
Kaleb smiled as he walked with Hestor, “you will make a good father, you know.”   
  
Hestor looked up and smiled, “we both will...after we find those keys.” he didn’t want the keys to get in the way of anything...and he truly didn’t know how long it was going to be before they surfaced...or what the tasks were. He didn’t want to leave anything to chance, or...a child without a parent.

 

  
~)~)~)~)~)~

 

  
  


When they finally retired for the evening after handing a yawning Gabriel back to his family, Hestor let out a soft sigh as he relaxed a bit, “it was a good party, the children enjoyed it. The adults enjoyed it..”   
  
Kaleb smiled as he wrapped his arms around the smaller man, “you enjoyed it.”

 

The smaller turned and purred, “now..it’s my turn.” He leaned up, lightly kissing Kaleb, “I am going to have so much fun tonight.”

 

Kaleb looked at the other for a moment and smiled, “what do you want me to do?”   
  
“Go get those heels on,” Hestor smirked, “and then we’ll go from there.” he licked his lips as he stepped back, “I’ve been looking forward to this all night.”

 

He watched Kaleb go and the moved to make sure that the door was locked, moving around almost warily, checking the doors and windows before slipping into one of the spare rooms. He took deep breaths to calm his nerves. Nothing was going to ruin this; Rowan had been late setting up one of the extra rooms for this and he smiled as he took his time to idly test the rope set up that he’d had put above the bed. He let out a low hum as he slowly ran his fingers along the rope, feeling the slight grip and nodded to himself.

 

“Hes?”

 

The celestial mage didn’t turn at the sound of his name, fingers still slowly curling along the blindfold on the pillow. He would chuckle at the fact that it was a pale lavender later and he sat carefully on the bed. He debated for a moment and then his lips curled into a wicked grin before he pulled on the bond with Kaleb, letting the other fall onto the bed. Steel blue eyes slowly turned to regard the mindbender and he purred as he leaned over the other man. “Yes?”

 

“Not expected,” Kaleb looked up at his mate, leaning up a bit to try and steal a kiss, only to have a hand on his chest. He arched an eyebrow, “Hes?”

 

“Strip out of the dress,” Hestor purred again as he sat back, “hang it up nicely, then kneel on the bed.”

 

Kaleb looked at the other for a moment and then nodded, he was curious as to where this was going to lead, but...he could have wager it was for all the times the other man had been in stockings, heels and garter belts.As much as he loved seeing his mate in white? Black fishnets did look so very, very delectable against the pale skin. As he carefully took the dress off he could feel the other’s stare on him, feel the intensity of the other man’s desire, hunger and need; even after all their time together, times like these it did catch him off guard and he took a deep breath as he hung the dress up and then felt the other sliding behind him, “Hes?”

 

Hestor murmured softly, “Close your eyes for me, my morning star.” The man placed light nips along the raised skin on his back and Kaleb let out a low moan as he felt just a little bit of magic threading between them, his head resting back slightly.

 

The mindbender felt the slender fingered hands move up, soft fabric curling over his eyes and then into his hair. Gentle fingers twisted the fabric, weaving it and he felt the light pull off his hair being held back. He let Hestor slowly draw him back, feeling the soft and firm touches, letting out a hiss went the man bit a sensitive spot below one of the ridged markings.

 

He let himself be lead and then carefully let out a breath as he felt something wrap around his wrists, heavy leather cuffs that had a brace for him to curl his fingers into and he let out a low groan as he heard the soft click of metal and then his arms were being raised. The mindbender could have quite easily tried to peek into the other’s mind, see what Hestor had planned, but he left it for now, shifting on the bed as the ropes attached to the cuffs continued to tug him up. 

 

Kaleb let out a sharp sound when he was just barely able to feel his heeled feet on the bed, letting out a breath as it seemed Hestor had him where he wanted him. He heard the celestial mage’s voice in his ear, “it’s alright, I promise.” there was a semi-wicked undertone but with his eyes covered, Kaleb couldn’t see the look in Hestor’s eyes, couldn’t figure out clues as to what he was planning without using magic.

 

The mindbender felt a warm wash of magic curl along his white stocking clad legs, letting out a low moan as it thread into him, he expected fingers, but felt a cool swirls of magic instead rolling along the fabric and skin. He shuddered as the feelings ghosted into him, sliding slowly, allowing the magic to tease at his body and he let out a sharp hiss as he felt teeth nip at his inner thigh and soft hair curl along the skin before kisses trailed up. He couldn’t help but jolt as a bite was placed on one cheek and then a tongue slowly slid along his skin before the thong he was wearing was tugged between a pair of familiar lips and he felt the tug become a bit more as the orbs of magic continued up his legs. They slid along his ass and he couldn’t help but gasp as the orbs moved back down while he felt the warm fingers curl beneath the band of the thong and rip it away.

 

The orbs continued on their lazy path, sending soft jolts of magic through him as he felt Hestor’s hands slide around his hips and the man press against his back. The voice was velvety against Kaleb’s senses as the hands seemed to touch everywhere but where he burned for them most. “Relax, my love, just relax.”

 

Kaleb felt the warmth of the other pulling away, had to flex his feet a bit as the bed dripped and shifted to keep his balance and let out a moan as the magic continued to curl along his skin, the orbs sliding over exposed skin and semi-covered skin, yet leaving the sensitive areas that he almost wanted to beg the other to touch alone. He tried to listen for where Hestor went, but he couldn’t catch any sounds other than soft feet on the flooring. He strained, still feeling those orbs of magic light up every nerve with small pulses as he let out a low moan of pleasure that fell into a needy whimper.

 

The guildmaster wasn’t sure how long the ‘assault’ continued, but his panting breath and moans drowned out any sound around him as his world seemed to unfocus. What brought him back finally was a sharp snap both of sound and pain that bloomed across his ass and Kaleb arched with a cry of shock. He heard the creak of wood as his arms strained and hissed as he felt an oiled hand over a welt that was slowly raising against his skin. He felt, more than heard purr before teeth sunk into the cheek around the welt and couldn’t help but groan of almost begging relief as a slick finger started to prepare him.

 

The nips, sparks and swirls of magic continued, driving every nerve more and more past the threshold of pleasure, making his arms strain so that he didn’t destroy the bedframe in his want and need to touch Hestor. When he felt not velvet and silk, but skin slid up his back, he shivered, unashamed of the whine that came out of him even as two hands slid up his back, across the marks and he felt all the magic around him vanish save for what was pushed into those marks to bring out his wings. The slender hands curling along the ridge was all the warning he got before pleasure exploded through his body as the ropes seemed to lose tension enough that his legs half buckled at the suddenness of his own weight on them; however, at that moment, all he could focus on was the one hand grasping the base of his one wing and the other curling around him as Hestor joined their bodies.

  
  


~~)~)~))~)~)~))~)~)

 

The mindbender slowly roused, groaning as his eyes slowly opened. The bed wasn’t fully familiar...and the frame was...wrecked for lack of a better word and he couldn’t help but blush as flashes of the night before, being overwhelmed by pleasure to the point of becoming semi-animalistic and tearing the frame apart to get his hands on Hestor…

 

His lips curled into a smirk as he felt the soft breath against his skin and turned his head, lightly kissing the other on the temple. He’d not been able to see much of what the other had done by the time they’d tired themselves out in pleasure, but there were bruises of all sorts dotting both their bodies and he chuckled softly.

 

Hestor’s brow furrowed at the sound and he mumbled, “three hours sleep. Go back to bed.”

 

Kaleb kissed the other’s hair gently, “rest well.”


End file.
